Storm Cloud
by Tejanochica
Summary: Reina is Tsuna's long-absent neighbor, and when she returns to the house across the alley she finds... a talking baby drinking coffee in her neighbor's family room? Cue the Reborn-caused drama and maybe a little bit more from an outside source.
1. Hello Namimori!

So I decided to delete the old version of this story in favor of a newer, better done version - in my opinion. Sorry to everyone who got their comments deleted, I just felt that the old version was moving too fast in a way that I didn't want it to.

* * *

"Hey, do you have the stuff?" a shadowy figure whispered to another in a secluded alley.

"Yeah," the second grunted, "did you make sure you weren't followed?"

"Yes," the first nodded, "I don't see why you're so paranoid though, it's not like _he _ever leaves that middle school anyways."

"I'm not worried about him," the second snapped as he fumbled around in his pockets. "There's someone else; I don't know who, but they've been causing problems lately."

"Well well, what do we have here?" a sweet voice purred from the entrance to the alley.

The two figures immediately whirled around to face the newcomer and saw a woman silhouetted by a nearby streetlight.

"Who are you?" the second figure demanded, pulling out a knife from his jacket.

"Oh, no one special," the woman dismissed with a wave of her hand, "What matters here is who _you_ are."

"Nobodies should know when to keep quiet," the first figure growled as he too pulled out a knife.

"Butterfly knives? Have you no class?" the woman chuckled darkly as she pulled out a staff. "Hopefully you can make up for it in skill…" she trailed off as she stalked into the alley and became engulfed in shadows.

Two low grunts were heard followed by solid thuds as the bodies hit the ground.

"Nope, no skill at all," the woman sighed to herself as she rummaged through the two men's pockets.

"Who are you?" one of the fallen bodies groaned as she fished his cell phone from his jean's pocket.

She paused for a moment and in the dim light he could barely make out her features. Most of her face was covered by a pair of oversized white sunglasses, but he could see the outline of a set of full lips and olive skin illuminated by the dim light coming from the street. Light brown hair cropped close to her head completed her appearance, and he decided that – under normal circumstances – he would have considered her a piece of exotic eye candy.

"Don't worry about it," she grinned before hitting him on the side of the head, sending him into unconsciousness.

* * *

Hibari Kyouya was not pleased in the least. In fact, there was no word for how infuriated he was at the moment. Some damn herbivore had gotten to his prey before him. He had spent weeks tracking that drug ring, and every time he would get close to bringing them down something would happen and they would become more cautious, making it nearly impossible for him to find their trail again. Now imagine how beyond pissed he was to find out that the leaders of said drug ring had been dropped off at the front steps of the police station.

Oh yes, heads were going to roll.

In a vain attempt to find a smidgeon of peace in the midst of his inner turmoil, Hibari stalked up the stairs leading to the roof of the third-year building of Namimori Chuu; his sanctuary, if you will. Much to his displeasure he found that someone else was already occupying the space.

He couldn't quite tell if the herbivore was male or female – not that it mattered, he would bite them to death anyways. The herbivore stood with its back to him; obviously it wasn't the smartest one around if it was ignoring him so blatantly.

He clenched his jaw in anger as he stalked over to the herbivore; skipping class and disregarding the uniform were major offences at Nami Chuu, and he was going to make sure that this herbivore never forgot that. His metallic orbs narrowed into a deadly glare when he saw a thin trail of smoke rising from the herbivore.

* * *

Reina let out a long stream of smoke along with her breath as she looked out over the grounds of the local middle school. In a different life she would have attended this school, and a part of her longed for the foreign idea of a normal life.

_No use thinking about things you can't change_, she chastised herself as she took another drag from the joint pinched between her fingers.

She heard angry footsteps beating on the stairs behind her but she paid no attention to it. Her guess was that it was a student skipping class – but she found that she didn't really care at this point in time. She regarded the half-burnt stub between her digits for a moment with a wry frown on her face. Why did she even bother with drugs? And with marijuana, no less? It's not like she'd lifted enough from those drug dealers to actually give her a high; yet here she was, smoking away.

She cast a bored look over her shoulder when she heard heavy footsteps approaching from behind her. It was a boy around her age dressed in a pristine school uniform, his ebony hair was tousled perfectly and partially obscured his metal-grey eyes. She immediately decided that this boy was not to be trusted.

A flash of red caught her attention as the sleeves of his jacket fluttered in the wind and her mind flicked through a series of languages until she came upon a match to the gold symbols stitched into the fabric.

_Disciplinary Committee?_ She regarded him with an arched eyebrow for a moment before she turned back to gaze out through the chain-link fence. She highly doubted that this _student_ could do anything to harm her even if he tried.

"Herbivore," the boy growled in a low voice, "what are you doing here?"

_Herbivore?_ Reina thought with a light scoff, was that supposed to be an insult?

"I don't see how that's any of your business," she declared as she flicked the smoldering stub through the fence, it wasn't like it was doing anything for her anyways. She turned around so she could face the boy head on and crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to one leg and assuming the tradition female confrontational stance.

* * *

Hibari glared darkly at the herbivore standing defiant before him. He could see now that the herbivore was in fact a girl about his age – maybe a little bit older – and he did not like the spark that danced in her brown eyes one bit. It spoke of everything he stood against; rule breaking.

"You are in violation of the dress code, herbivore," he informed her in a flat tone as he drew his tonfas from his coat, "and for that I will bite you to death."

"Hmm, kinky," the girl hummed with a mischievous grin, "but I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I have a previous engagement that I need to attend to."

His glare darkened considerably, this herbivore thought that she could simply brush him off? She was in for a rude surprise then. She started to make her way towards the door propped open by a spare brick behind him and he swung one metal tonfa at her head. A sharp clang reverberated down his arm when his weapon met a thin metal staff. So this herbivore carried a weapon? Another rule broken.

"Weapons are prohibited on school campus," he smirked as he pressed more weight against the girl's staff.

"Like you're one to talk," she snorted before taking a step to the side and withdrawing her staff, causing him to stumble forward.

His rage was now at least double what it had been before he had come to the roof. Not only had his prey been snatched away from him, this herbivore was playing him for a fool! He swung again, this time aiming for one of her kidneys – he didn't really care which one. She easily twirled away from him and stood with her almond-shaped eyes set into a glare that could rival his own.

* * *

_So it's a fight he wants?_ Reina thought as she felt her temper rising.

She twirled her staff expertly in one hand before settling into a fighting stance, collecting the bounty could wait until she taught this boy a lesson. He lunged for her with a tonfa drawn back ready to strike and she side stepped again, sticking one end of her staff out to catch his ankle as he passed her. He didn't fall – much to her disappointment – but he did stumble a bit and she struck him in the back of one knee, causing him to kneel on the ground for a split second. He was back up in the blink of an eye and attacking with a renewed vigor.

_He must be angry_, she mused when she noticed his moves were a bit sloppier than before.

It was easy to slip beneath his "defense" – if that's what you wanted to call it – now that his style had degenerated to him swinging wildly in rage. With a flick of her wrist she sent his weapons skidding across the concrete and held one end of her staff against his windpipe.

"Dead," she said barely loud enough for him to hear, but she could tell by the narrowing of his eyes that he had.

She removed her staff and turned away; her lesson had been taught and obviously received. He might be the best by middle school standards, but he was barely a blip on her radar.

She twirled her staff once more as she passed through the door and knocked the brick away, allowing the heavy door to swing shut behind her with a heavy thud followed by the click of the lock falling into place.


	2. Familiar Strangers

Reborn frowned to himself as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes. Had he really seen what he had just seen, or were his eyes playing tricks on him? Did Hibari Kyouya just get beaten? Sure there were plenty of people that were bound to be stronger than him, but in Namimori? The suit-clad infant found that hard to believe, but seeing was believing and based off of what he had just witnessed he should be a believer…

He quickly jumped off the safety railing when he saw Hibari's opponent exit the school building. His trusty pet chameleon Leon morphed into a hang glider, allowing him to silently follow the stranger without being noticed.

From his bird's eye view he was able to see practically everything that Namimori had to provide, he could even see his no-good student's home in the distance. But that wasn't his main concern, right now his objective was to track this strong stranger and ask if he would be willing to join Tsuna's Famiglia. He frowned in confusion when he saw that the stranger was heading _towards_ his no-good student's house. Had Tsuna taken the initiative when he wasn't looking to recruit a new, strong member into his Famiglia? Reborn felt his chest swell with pride; his hard work was starting to pay off!

He quickly swerved into the large tree standing in the Sawada's back yard and peered through the branches. Now that he was closer he could see that the stranger was a girl in her late teens and not heading towards Tsuna's house, but the house next door.

Of course his useless student wouldn't take the initiative, he thought bitterly as he watched the girl unlock the front door. How was it possible that he had missed that someone so talented was living next door to his student? She was prime Guardian material if he ever saw any, and he made a mental note to test her potential personally before jumping out of the tree and walking into the Sawada household.

* * *

Reina sighed as she sorted through the bills stuffed into her wallet. Sure there were a lot of them, but they were all from different countries. Pesos, Euros, U.S. dollars, Won, Yuan, even a few useless Rubles she had accidentally picked up a while back, but no Yen. Her stomach growled angrily at this. No Yen meant no food, and no food meant no good.

She brushed off the discomfort for the moment as she changed into a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and tucked them into a pair of black combat boots and pulled on a dark green sweater and smoothed out the wrinkles. She would worry about dinner after collecting her money, because then she would actually have money to buy it with.

She grabbed her keys off the counter and made her way to the garage but stopped before she got to the door. She thought better of her first decision and chose to exit through the front door and travel by train instead; it would be slower but she would be harder to pick out that way.

* * *

"Nana-san," Reborn started as he ate his dinner slowly, "who lives in the house next door?"

"Ah, I believe Soto-kun does," the auburn-haired woman said as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought that house was deserted," Bianchi mused as she took a sip from her glass.

"Does Soto-san have any children?" the infant hit-man asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Yes," Nana nodded with a smile, "his son is studying at Tokyo University and his daughter… well, I forget what she's doing, but I'm sure that it's equally as impressive!" she giggled into her hand.

From the corner of his eye Reborn could see Tsuna sinking down in his seat and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to belittle his student.

"How is it possible that such genius could live next to such a failure?" he sighed as the brim of his fedora cast a shadow over his black eyes.

Tsuna just sunk lower in his chair before excusing himself from the table when Bianchi yelled at him for having bad posture.

"What makes you ask, Reborn-kun?" Nana asked after bidding her son good night.

"I was just curious because I saw a girl entering that house," he shrugged innocently before hopping off his seat. "I need to make sure that my useless student is studying instead of loafing around."

"Ah! If Reina-chan is in town then I need to make her a welcome home meal!" the home maker exclaimed before rushing around the kitchen with a new mission.

"I'll help!" Bianchi offered with a kind smile.

Reborn smirked to himself as he climbed the stairs not to Tsuna's room, but to the attic so he could fire up the Vongola search engine. He had a name and a face and soon Tsuna would have a new member in his Famiglia.

* * *

Reina groaned when she was stirred from her sleep by someone knocking at her door the next morning. She couldn't tell if it was early or late, all she could tell was that she was dead tired. The knocking continued and she forced herself to get up, popping her joints along the way. She sighed as she shuffled from the couch to the door, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What?" she grunted as she opened the door with more force than she originally meant to.

On the other side of the door a scrawny boy visibly jumped, almost dropping the package he was carrying. She arched an eyebrow as she leaned against the half-open door, appraising the boy stuttering on her doorstep. His auburn hair stood on end, giving him a few centimeters he wouldn't have otherwise and his hazel eyes were darting around frantically, trying to find something else to look at aside from her.

"Can I help you?" she growled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

The boy squeaked in what she assumed to be fright before shoving his package into her hands and running off. She leaned out of the doorway slightly and watched him run down the street like a rabid dog was at his heels.

"That was weird," she frowned as she closed the door.

She inspected the cloth-wrapped package in her hands warily before deciding that it was okay to open. It had been delivered by her wimpy neighbor, so how bad could it be?

* * *

Tsuna finally slowed down to a walk when he felt that he was a safe distance away. Why had his mother insisted that _he_ deliver the bento? Why couldn't she have done it herself?

_Soto-san is still as scary as ever!_ He thought as tears streamed down his face.

"Wow, you really are useless," Reborn interrupted his thoughts coldly. "You can't even deliver a simple package without almost peeing your pants!"

"Reborn!" he nearly jumped out of his skin. Why did this baby have to keep sneaking up on him?

"Why were you so scared?" the infant asked with a tilt of his head.

"Gah! You don't understand!" Tsuna groaned as he tugged at his hair. "Soto-san used to pick on me a lot when we were younger," he admitted, hanging his head in shame.

He was half expecting Reborn to start laughing, and he wouldn't blame him for it. It was so embarrassing! To be bullied by a _girl_! The age gap of almost two years did nothing to dull the shameful sting.

"You should ask her if she wants to join your Famiglia," he suggested with a devious smirk.

"Oh no," the middle school student immediately shot the idea down, "for the last time, I don't want to be a Mafia boss! And besides, why would I want someone who used to pick on me to be a part of my family?"

Reborn just sighed and shook his head. It was almost as if he forgot that Gokudera used to threaten him daily for no apparent reason.


	3. Of Empty Stomachs and Babies

Reina sighed as she closed the lid of the bento that her neighbor had given her. The food was good while it lasted, but now it was finished and she that was left with was a dull ache in her stomach for more. She looked around her empty kitchen with a slight look of distain, empty cabinets and an empty refrigerator; definitely not what one would want to come home to.

"Meh, now's not the time to mope about that," she said with a shrug as she rewrapped the bento, though it didn't look as pristine as it had this morning when it had been given to her.

She quickly went through a mental checklist of things she needed to do today: return the now empty container to her neighbor and but some "real" food from the market. Past that she had no real plans for the day; she would probably just end up sleeping until she got another call. She thumbed through the small wad of bills she had allowed herself to keep for food and other necessities. It wasn't as much as she would have liked, but it was the most she could afford to; that last bounty was a bit less than she was used to collecting to say the least.

She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and noted that it was around lunch time, and the rumbling in her stomach agreed. She quickly stuffed her money into one of her jean's pockets along with her phone and keys before heading out with the bento dangling from one hand.

* * *

Reborn sat sipping espresso from his infant-sized mug. He had opted to not go to Nami Chuu to keep watch over his student, but he doubted that the useless boy would notice. No, he had much more important matters on his mind. His search the night before had turned up with nothing. According to the extensive databases he had access to Soto Reina didn't exist, but he had physical proof that she did…

"What a mystery," he hummed to himself as he took another sip. Fortunately for him, he was an expert investigator; so he would get to the bottom of this in no time.

He looked up when he heard knocking at the door and shifted so he could look out the window. He arched an eyebrow in interest when he saw that it was Reina waiting outside. He decided to let someone else answer the door while he took this chance to observe her.

"Ah! Reina-chan!" Nana greeted when she opened the door. "What a surprise!"

Reborn could hear her respond, but he couldn't pick out the individual words; he could tell however that she had a faint accent clouding her speech.

_So she's a foreigner_, he concluded, filing the information away to use later.

"Who's that, Mama-san?" Fuuta asked, peeking around a doorway with Lambo and I-pin.

"Kids, this is Soto Reina, she lives next door," Nana introduced as she pulled the teen into the entry way. "Reina-chan, this is Fuuta, Lambo and I-pin."

Reborn decided to keep his presence a secret for a little while longer so he could study her some more.

"I didn't know you had more kids, Sawada-san," he could hear the playful smile on Reina's soft, accented voice, "and such strange names, too…"

"Eh? Oh no," Nana flustered for a moment, "they're just staying here!"

"Mah, you're so generous," Reina sighed and he heard the shuffling of cloth. "I wanted to thank you for the food, it was delicious!"

"No problem, Reina-chan!" the housewife said cheerily, "You're welcome to join us anytime at all!"

"Ha ha, don't tempt me," the younger girl laughed, "instant ramen is getting kind of old."

"Eh? Is that all you've been eating?"

"Yeah, I haven't really had time to go grocery shopping since I got back…"

"That' won't do!" Nana exclaimed, passing by the doorway to the family room probably on her way to the kitchen. "It's a wonder you're so thin, eating like that!"

"Uh… Sawada-san?" Reina now appeared in the doorway, her confusion clear in her voice, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Reborn evaluated her over the rim of his almost empty espresso cup now. She didn't seem to match her voice, but he was sure that wasn't the case when she spoke in her native language. She was about average height – maybe 167 centimeters – and she was very thin like Nana had said, her tan skin was taught over the toned, ropy muscles of her bare arms and shoulders displayed by her tank top. Her hair was short for a girl as he had seen before and at this distance he could see that her chocolate-brown tresses were unnaturally straight; his guess was that she used a flat-iron.

She turned her head and cast a quick glance towards him when she realized that he was silently appraising her and a similar light flashed in her almond-shaped orbs. Her brown eyes held his beady black ones for a long moment before she turned back to the direction that Nana had gone in.

"Sawada-san, there's a baby drinking coffee in your family room!" she frowned as she continued after the homemaker.

"That's Reborn-san," he heard Fuuta inform her before seeing his small figure passed in front of the door way, "he does that all the time."

Reborn smirked to himself as he finished the last of his drink and rose from his seat to his short legs. Now he had a face to help him filter through the databases.

* * *

Tsuna heaved a sigh of relief as he walked home after school. It had gone well, all things considered; Reborn hadn't made an appearance and he had only missed three questions on his assignment! But the assignment had only been four questions… so maybe it wasn't such a good day after all… Oh well, at least nothing more could go wrong, right?

"Juudaime!" Gokudera's voice interrupted his glum thoughts and brought him back to reality.

"Eh? Gokudera-kun? What're you doing here?" he asked, blinking his large eyes.

"I'm here to escort you home!" he silver-haired teen grinned, "Reborn-san called me earlier and said that you have a new neighbor and I want to make sure that they're trustworthy!"

"You don't have to!" Tsuna tried to dissuade his self-proclaimed right hand man. "I don't even think I have any new neighbors…"

"Really?" Gokudera frowned as he looked at the houses around them, "I don't think Reborn-san would lie about something like that."

The auburn-haired middle school student just shrugged uneasily; Reborn probably meant Reina, and Tsuna wasn't exactly looking forward to a meeting between her and the hot-headed bomber. It was sure to be a – literally – explosive event when it eventually would happen.

"None the less, I shall check out Juudaime's neighbors," the Smoking Bomb declared with a fist clenched in determination. "He can never be too safe!"

"That's not necessary, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna winced as they drew closer to his home. "You can help me with my homework, though… that is… if it wouldn't be too much trouble…" he hung his head in shame at his own uselessness. "I don't quite understand what we're supposed to be learning right now."

"Of course!" the green-eyed teen immediately agreed, happy to be able to help his beloved boss. "Anything for Juudaime!"

The academically-challenged boy gave a sigh of relief as he turned the knob of his front door. He had successfully avoided an awkward situation with his usually-absent neighbor _and_ he might actually remotely understand what was going on in class!

"Ah, Tsu-kun!" his mother greeted from the kitchen. "You're home!"

"Tsuna-nii!"Fuuta cheered as he ran up to his "big brother". "Guess what!"

"Oi! Be more respectful when you address Juudaime!" Gokudera reprimanded the young boy, but was ignored.

"We have a guest, Tsu-kun!" Nana smiled as she walked out of the kitchen. "Say hello to Reina-chan!"

Tsuna felt the color drain from his face when the familiar brunette stepped out of the kitchen behind his mother. He just _had_ to tempt Fate by thinking that things couldn't get worse, hadn't he?

"Hey, Atún," she greeted with a wide grin.

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna


	4. Dinner Time

Reina smiled as she ate dinner with her neighbors, things sure were lively around the small table. She would have sworn that there was no room available for her, but somehow they had all squeezed in. She was seated across from Tsuna's silver-haired friend – introduced to her as Gokudera-kun – and next to her younger neighbor who held the unruly Lambo in his lap.

"Gyahahahaha! Feed me, Dame-Tsuna!" the boy demanded.

She did her best not to laugh at the stricken look on Tsuna's face or the rice sticking to his shirt from Lambo's earlier attempts to feed himself; but a few strangled snickers made their way past her lips.

"Oi! What're you laughing at, woman?" Gokudera grunted when he heard her.

"Oh, nothing," she dismissed his question as she brought her chopsticks to her mouth.

"So, Reina-chan," Nana cut in as she fed I-pin from her plate, "how was China? That's where you were going to school, right?"

The Chinese girl seated in the housewife's lap perked up at the name of her home country and Reina could feel her slanted eyes on her.

"It was nice," she said with a nostalgic smile, "I miss my teacher, but Soto decided that it would be best if I was homeschooled like Yoshiro-nii…" she trailed off as she remembered the lie that had been fed to those who asked about her.

"Why do you call him that?" Fuuta asked innocently, "Your father, why don't you call him 'Tou-san' or something like that?"

"Because he's not my father," she said simply as she took another bite of her meal.

"Oh," the boy said softly, looking down at the table, "I'm sorry…"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," she shrugged her shoulders, "my original parents clearly didn't care for me, at least he _wanted_ me to be a part of his family." _Sort of_.

Silence fell over the table and Reina wondered for a moment if it was because of what she said.

"Are you going to attend school here, then?" Nana asked, taking everyone's mind off of what had just been said.

"No, I don't think so," she smiled, "I don't know how long I'll be staying and I've already finished school a while ago, it wouldn't make much sense for me to enroll in Nami Koko."

"Really?" the homemaker gasped in surprise, "That's amazing! Would you be interested in helping Tsu-kun sometime? You could even stay for dinner!"

"Ha ha, okay!" she agreed almost immediately at the offer of food.

From the corner of her eye she saw Tsuna go rigid and some of the color drained from his face. Lambo started to thrash about, yelling at the top of his lungs about how he was amazing at all subjects and that he could pass "Dame-Tsuna's" classes with his eyes shut. Gokudera started to yell too, but his shouts were drowned out by Lambo's and only added to the clamor rising from the table.

Reborn allowed a triumphant smirk cross his features as he applauded himself for placing listening devices around the Sawada household, his planning had definitely paid off. Not only had he learned more about the mysterious Reina, but he also recorded her talking so he could now run the sound bite through his voice recognition software. If she had ever said anything around a Vongola bug anywhere in the world he would know exactly what she said and where she had said it. Everything was becoming clearer and the pieces were beginning to fall into place; this puzzle would be solved in no time.

* * *

Tsuna shifted nervously as he continued to glance around his room, just waiting for Reborn to pop out of nowhere and ask Reina to join his family. How many times did he have to say that he had no intention of becoming a Mafia Boss? Apparently more than he already has…

"Atún… are you even listening to me?" her voice cut through his frantic thoughts.

"Uh… yes," he gulped, hoping that his words had sounded more convincing than they had felt.

"Then what did I just say?" she demanded with her arms crossed over her chest, arching a delicate eyebrow at him.

He began to sweat under her intense gaze; it felt like she could see through his poorly constructed lie and into his pitiful soul.

"You, uh, said… um…" he fumbled for something believable; nothing came readily to mind.

"Oi!" Gokudera cut in, and Tsuna couldn't be more thankful for his short-tempered friend. "Juudaime doesn't have to answer to you, woman!"

"Actually, he does," she countered as her unnerving gaze shifted to the silver-haired bomber. "_You_ are the one who doesn't need to talk in this situation."

The Hurricane Bomb went livid at her statement and Tsuna feared that he might bring out his infamous dynamite and cause more trouble than was necessary.

"Tch, whatever," the hot-headed teen grunted as he finally broke away from Reina's intense stare.

Tsuna couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Had that really just happened? It hadn't, right? Had Gokudera Hayato – the second scariest person at Nami Chuu after Hibari – just lost a stare down with his neighbor? His head was spinning as Reina started to re-explain the complicated math problem from his homework.

* * *

Gokudera silently fumed to himself in the corner of Tsuna's room where he had retreated to in an attempt to remain calm. He refused to fail the special mission that Reborn himself had entrusted him with!

_Observe Juudaime's neighbor to determine if she should be let into the Famiglia_, he reminded himself as he shot her a covert glare.

No, tossing a fist full of explosives at her would mean failure on his part. He had been tasked with watching her, not killing her – no matter how satisfying it would be for him.

His fists clenched when she lightly smacked his boss on the back of his head when he failed to understand the concept she had been explaining to him. He especially didn't like the string of insults that fell from her mouth as she shook her head. Wait… was she speaking in Italian? No, not quite. She was muttering to herself in Spanish – similar to his native tongue, but different. That explained the light accent that she spoke with, he noted before another thought swelled his chest with pride. Clearly she was inferior to him in that respect; he had mastered Japanese without even a hint of an accent in less than a year, this woman had been trying for much longer and she was worse than him! Even more proof that is was he alone who was the proper choice to be Tsuna's right hand man, not that baseball freak and definitely not this woman.

* * *

"Good night, Sawada-san!" Reina called out with a wave as she started to walk down the front path to the street.

"Good night, Reina-chan!" Nana called back, "Feel free to come over any time! And call me Nana; 'Sawada-san' makes me feel so old!"

The brunette teen smiled to her as she gave one last wave and turned into the street separating her house from the Sawada's. She got the feeling that Tsuna hadn't learned anything from her helping him with his homework, his thoughts had definitely been elsewhere. Had he been distracted by Gokudera being in the same room? Was he actually gay for the silver-haired teen and just hadn't realized his feelings yet? She thought with a gasp; her eyes now took on a mischievous, gleeful light.

A sharp ringing cut through her musings and she looked around frantically for the source before realizing that it was her cell phone that was making the noise.

_I am an idiot_, she sighed to herself as she fished the small, silver device out of her pocket.

She squinted at the glowing screen, trying to decipher the black, blocky text that scrolled across the tiny surface. She matched the name to a language before answering in a false, cheery tone. She listened patiently as she unlocked the door to her house and shut it behind her, nodding to herself a few times. The call ended with a few words of confirmation on her part and she sighed heavily once she had hung up. There would be no sleep for her tonight; she had a job to do.

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna


	5. Meanwhile, in Italy

Reina stared down at the man at her feet, trying to find an ounce of remorse for the life she had just taken. Blood trickled from the bullet wound between his eyes, but that was nothing compared to the splatter on the wall behind where he once stood. His brown eyes were glazed over as they stared up at her, but it wasn't his lifeless gaze that unsettled her; it was the fact that she felt _nothing_.

She tried to convince herself that is was because he was worse than scum. Human trafficking, gun running, drug cartels; pretty much, if it could be smuggled across international borders, this man had a hand in it. He wouldn't be missed. Or would he? Did he have a family somewhere?

If he did then he didn't deserve it.

She spat on his face before opening the cell phone she had picked from one of his pockets. It was admittedly much nicer than the one shoved deep into the pocket of her pale blue jeans, but she still preferred her older model. She didn't even have to think about the digits as she punched the keypad, she had called these people so many times that it had been ingrained in her muscle memory.

"I know you're already tracking this call," she said when the other side picked up, her native Spanish flowing easily from her tongue. "The package is here, ready for pick up."

She ended the call before the other side said anything and casually tossed the phone into a nearby puddle, short circuiting the device and then crushing it beneath the heel of her boot. She had allowed them enough time to find her, and if they hadn't then they were seriously lacking in the technology department. She walked calmly from the dark alley where the body lay and walked down the street sticking to the shadows until she reached a more populated part of the city. She easily blended into the crowd of people as she looked down at the ground and shoved her hands into the pocket of her olive green jacket.

_Right on time_, she smirked to herself as a black car sped down the street in the opposite direction.

She had two options, spend the night in a seedy motel – the only kind she could afford – or catch the next flight back to Japan and sleep in her own, relatively clean, bed. One covert glance around at the people surrounding her told her that she would greatly prefer to catch a plane. Italians were great and all, but she didn't feel like spending any more time with them than she absolutely needed to.

"The airport it is," she sighed to herself as she hailed a cab, deciding to give her tired feet a rest.

* * *

A deep frown marred Reborn's infant features. How was it possible that Reina's voice had never been recorded by the Vongola before? It wasn't! They had operatives literally _everywhere_, even in Antarctica! Leon stared up at him, sensing his master's frustration, and turned into a baseball bat. Reborn chuckled at his pet's suggestion. Take out his anger on his worthless student? Maybe he should… the pitiful boy hadn't been able to provide any valuable information on his neighbor at all…

No, that wouldn't solve anything he decided and shook his head at Leon's transformation. He would still be left with a mystery and on top of that he would have a student who would be unable to learn. His beady, black eyes lit up in excitement when a new window opened on his computer screen. Maybe he hadn't hit a dead end after all.

His frown from before returned with a vengeance.

He had found a recording of her, but it didn't make sense. It was few hours old and from an operative in Italy, but she had just had dinner at the Sawada's the night before… He leaned over to look outside of Tsuna's bedroom window. The house across the street looked vacant, but he had just seen her less than a day ago! Things just didn't add up. He packed up his computer and stowed it away before jumping off of his student's bed. He would just have to go over there and confirm for himself.

The trip across the street was uneventful, not surprising for the peaceful, suburban Namimori. He was mildly surprised to find that even though all the doors were locked, one of the bedroom windows on the second floor had been left open. He jumped into the room and landed on a plush bed, he could tell that it wasn't used very often after a few bounces. His first glance around the room revealed it to be a typical teenage girl's room furnished sparsely with a set of drawers, a bedside table, a bed, and a vanity mirror. On his second glance he took in much more detail. The piles of books around the room hinted at the occupant's intelligence – or free time – and the laptop humming quietly on the bedside table was worthy of further investigation. He opened the device, careful not to leave fingerprints, and his face lit up along with the screen.

The desktop had few icons, just the internet and a few games. He tried to start one of the programs but an error window opened up instead. His brow creased as he tried to decipher what it said. He counted five languages in one sentence, Japanese, English, Chinese, Spanish, and was that Korean? He exited out of the window and closed the computer, maybe he should go through the books instead.

The first pile was made up of text books, supporting her claim that she had been homeschooled. He moved on to another and found that it consisted of anatomy texts, and the next had volumes on computer programming. He glanced back at the laptop, seeming to taunt him with its quiet humming. That definitely explained the error message. Strangely there weren't any books on other languages, so did that mean she was fluent in all the ones he had seen on her computer?

He gave one final sweep of the room and a small scrap of paper caught his attention stuck into the frame of the mirror. It was a strip of photos, the kind you would get from a photo booth. He stepped closer and saw that the pictures had Reina and a blonde male not much older than her. They were grinning widely and making silly faces at the camera, even making obscene gestures. He allowed himself a smirk at this, the only personal touch to the room.

Any further inspection on his part was postponed when he heard the front door open and close followed by the lock sliding home. He didn't panic, of course, just walked calmly back to the window he had entered from and slid back out into the late afternoon. The blue sky spoke of the warm summer that was to come to the citizens of Namimori and the cool breeze reminded them that it was still spring.

* * *

Reina entered her home exhausted, but happy. She was met with a pleasant surprise when she had arrived at the airport; her contact had sent a private jet to take her home. That meant she didn't have to put up with passports, airport security, and just people in general. She had touched down in Tokyo early in the morning and from there she had taken a train to Namimori, arriving a little after 3:00 pm.

She yawned loudly as she pushed the blonde wig she had been wearing off her head along with the large, white sunglasses perched on the wig. She dropped both the items in the hall before opening the door to her room. Her tired eyes assessed that things were just as she had left them, or at least close enough for her to go to sleep before worrying about it.

She dropped to her bed with a grateful groan, burying her face into her pillow. After a few moments she rolled onto her back and stared out her open window at the clear, blue sky. She allowed herself to be lulled to sleep by the birds singing in the trees and the gentle breeze that caressed her cheek.


	6. No! Not the Puppy!

Reborn couldn't quite believe the information that he was reading. The operative that the recording had come from - Vasco De Luca - was dead. Sure, he wasn't the prime example of what the Vongola had to offer; he had been a part of the corruption that had been running rampant through the Famiglia's ranks for the last few years. But for someone to attack and kill him? Clearly whoever it was had no fear of the most powerful Mafia Famiglia in the world. Did Reina have something to do with his death? He couldn't access the file yet, so he didn't know what she had said; which was unusual, he had one of the highest security clearances in the organization and he should have had access to the file the moment it was uploaded to the information network. The screen blinked for a moment and his computer emitted a long, low beep. A window opened to warn him of corrupted files before the entire screen went blue and then shut off.

… What had just happened?

He frowned as he slapped his tiny palm against the side of the screen, trying to jar it back to life. No luck, instead the monitor started to smoke. He didn't think twice before throwing it out the window into the street below. He sat there for a while staring out across at Reina's house, mulling over the little information he had. He could say with a great degree of certainty that Reina had been present at Vasco's death, but what part she played would remain a mystery. How she was even there was a question too; did she have access to a private jet of some kind? That would explain it.

Somewhere in a corner of his mind he noted that Tsuna's window faced what he assumed to be Reina's room. Then it dawned on him; he could monitor her comings and goings very easily, all he had to do was set up a camera! But no, Tsuna would ask questions and that would be more trouble than it was worth, that useless boy would get distracted from his already suffering grades. Reborn would just have to settle for watching the window whenever he was home. He glanced down the street to see Tsuna and his other two Famiglia members walking towards him.

_Only two_, he sighed internally with a shake of his head. _I'll have to change that_, he decided as he shot a quick glance at Reina's window before heading downstairs to meet his worthless student.

* * *

Tsuna was beginning to think he was in the clear with the whole Reina situation. Reborn hadn't said anything about her after the first day, maybe he had decided to let this one go. That would be great news for him! He didn't need any of this Mafia business to begin with, so why drag his scary neighbor into it? She probably didn't need it either.

He was sitting at the low table in his room with Gokudera and Yamamoto with the pretense of doing their homework, but what it had ended up as was Gokudera yelling at Yamamoto. Movement in the corner of his eyes caught his attention and he turned to see the light in the room across the street from his had turned on and that someone was moving around in it. He started to shift nervously, wasn't that Reina's room? He decided – against his better judgment – to ignore it, she was probably going out for a date or something, that's right! But who would date _her_? For some reason he got the image of Hibari and his neighbor sitting together on the school's rooftop and watching the sun set.

_That would be the scariest couple ever!_ He thought with a shudder, forcing himself to at least look at his homework.

* * *

Reina was ready to _kill_ someone when she was woken from her slumber. Someone was yelling in the house next to hers, and that someone was going to get their tongue cut out if they didn't shut up in the next ten seconds. When the ten seconds had passed and the person was still yelling she angrily rose from her bed and stalked out of her room, turning on her lamp so she could dodge the towers of books littering her floor. She didn't even pause to put on her shoes before crossing the alley that separated her home from the offending residence and knocking on the door.

"Ah! Reina-chan! What a surprise!" Nana said cheerfully when she opened the door.

"Hi, Sawada-san," Reina mumbled sleepily, "is Atún home? I have something I need to talk to him about."

"Of course!" the housewife continued, ignorant to the murderous aura emanating from the brunette teen. "He's upstairs with his friends doing homework!"

_Doesn't sound like it_, she remarked dryly to herself as she started to climb the stairs.

The yelling got progressively louder the closer she came to Tsuna's room, but stopped when she slammed the door open. Her eye swept over the three boys seated in the middle of the room. Her neighbor, the silver-haired kid from last night – Gokudera – and a brown-haired boy she hadn't met. Her brown eyes came to a rest on Gokudera, he was standing in a confrontational stance and looked like he had been about to deliver a stinging insult; clearly he was the offender.

"I swear to God," she started in a deadly, calm tone, "if you wake me up one more time with your yelling I will get you a puppy, and you will grow to love that puppy, and then I will brutally murder it with you watching."

She noted that he neighbor paled significantly before she decided that she didn't really care and turned on her heel to leave. She made sure to say good bye to Nana before she walked out the front door and back to her house, falling onto her couch and then asleep. If only. Not even five seconds after she shut her eyes her phone started to ring, vibrating in her pocket until she fished it out and answered it.

"What?" she snapped; not caring what language she was supposed to be talking in.

She sat up slowly as her eyes widened at what the other side had to say.

"¿Estás seguro?" she asked; her voice barely above a whisper.

The other end of the line went blank in response, and she knew that what she had been told was the truth.

_Tagged_, she thought, and the word seemed to echo around the confines of her mind.

In her world being tagged was a horrible thing. It meant that her carefully maintained ambiguity was being challenged, and the challenger had actually found something of substance. It meant that she wouldn't be getting many bounties sent her way from her usual sources.

It meant that someone was looking for her.

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna

¿Estás seguro? - Are you sure?


	7. Grosseries

Reina sat on her bed staring at her laptop's screen with a frown. The log said that someone had tried to open one of her protected files she had disguised as a shortcut to Minesweeper. That someone was more than likely the person who tried to track her down, but if whoever it was already knew where she lived then it was only logical that her identity was no longer a secret. Her being tagged would just be that person confirming a hunch, then. Out of the small number of people that knew where she lived, none of them were involved in any underground crime syndicates; that she knew for sure, that is. She had her suspicions about Iemitsu – Tsuna's father – but nothing had ever happened to make her act on those suspicions.

The only person – if you could even call him that – that had warranted caution on her part recently was that baby at the Sawada's. Of course she wasn't dim enough to just brush off a baby drinking coffee while he was obviously judging her. She had heard of the Arcoballeno, that they were supposed to be the strongest infants in the world – she had scoffed the first time she had heard this, it wasn't that much of a feat to be strong when compared to an infant. She had never thought that she would ever meet one though, not in her wimpy neighbor's family room.

She would bet money that he was the one who tagged her, and she never bet her hard-earned money.

Reina closed her laptop and left it on her bed as she walked down to her kitchen. The tile was cold against her bare feet, contrasting the hot air of the coming summer. She sighed heavily as she raked her fingers through her short brown hair. What was she going to do? What did she have that an Arcoballeno could possibly want?

"Caiossu!" a small voice squeaked, breaking her from her reverie.

"You," she growled as she glared at the suit-clad baby sitting on her kitchen counter. "Get out of here before I call the police."

"What'll you tell them?" the baby smirked as a shadow fell over his eyes from the brim of his fedora. "That a _baby_ broke into your house?"

"What do you want?" she huffed after a tense silence, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who are you?" he asked, tilting his head and allowing some of the fluorescent light to illuminate his features.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" she asked with an arched eyebrow. "Considering that this _is_ my house after all…"

The tension returned as the two locked eyes, daring the other to back down first.

"I'm just a girl trying to make her way through this world," she finally said, surprising them both by breaking his gaze. "Nothing more, nothing less."

The baby stood finally and started to leave, deciding not to press her further. She heard the front door open and close before she allowed a heavy sigh to leave her lips. She cradled her head in her hand, gently massaging her temples with her fingertips.

Yes, she had found the person who had tagged her. Now the only question was what she was going to do about it.

* * *

Reborn sipped at his small cup of tea as he stared pensively out the window at the street. What was it about him that made Reina shut down any and all information? Fuuta had asked a much more personal question than he had – in front of others at that! – and she had given him a straight answer…

Through the window he saw the subject of his thoughts cross the street with an empty drawstring bag slung over one shoulder. He noted that she was heading in the direction of the market; wait… hadn't Nana sent Tsuna on an errand to pick up some ingredients for dinner?

He silently rose from his seat and started to walk towards the door. If she wouldn't answer questions from him, then maybe she would answer when his useless student asked! Now was a perfect chance to test this theory.

* * *

Tsuna winced as Lambo knocked over yet another display at the market, sending cans rolling in at least five different directions.

"Lambo," he groaned as angry attendants rushed to the scene.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the boy cackled, "They'll never be able to catch the great and powerful Lambo-san!"

"Hey! Did you do this?" an irritated man in a red apron demanded just as Lambo disappeared down an aisle. "Well? Clean it up!"

The middle school student groaned to himself; he always had to clean up Lambo's messes, didn't he?

* * *

Reina winced slightly when she walked into the supermarket; someone seriously needed to learn how to control their kid. She ignored the child's obnoxious laughter as she moved through the aisles. She stopped in the produce section to look over the vegetables and barely held back a sneer when she found a small boy sleeping with the heads of lettuce.

"Oye, people are going to eat that," she growled, picking the boy up by his curly hair.

There was no color in the boy's face as he stared up at Reina's stern countenance. She noticed the slight quiver of his lip and she knew that he was going to start crying.

"Tch, go cry to your momma," she grunted as she dropped the boy onto the tile floor.

He immediately took off running and she noted that not only was he wearing a cow print onesie it had a tail attached to the back as well. She turned away from the vegetables, suddenly she didn't want to have salad anymore… She scanned the empty section with mild curiosity, hadn't there been people here a moment ago?

Her eyes came to rest on a stoic figure, looming over a stand of apples. It was the school prefect she had fought on the rooftop, and based off of the murderous glare he was sending her, he was the reason no one else was in the section. She sent him a taunting smirk before she too left the section, unable to resist the urge to add fuel to the fires of his rage.

Reina's next stop was the check out; she had collected the few things she would need before her next job… if she found one. She nodded to the cashier as she left with her now full bag hanging in her grip. She saw from the corner of her eye that her neighbor was leaving as well with that kid from earlier. She paid them no mind as she walked down the street back to her home, allowing the steady hum of traffic drown out her thoughts.

* * *

"Ah, Lambo!" Tsuna shouted at the young boy. "Don't play so close to the street!"

"Bah! Dame-Tsuna!" the child spat as he defiantly jumped onto the asphalt. "You will address me as 'Lambo-sama'!"

"Fine, Lambo-sama," he winced at the words coming from him mouth. "Please get out of the street, cars are coming!"

"Hmmm, no," Lambo said after giving the request a moment of thought. "Gyahahaha! Catch me if you can, Dame-Tsuna!" he shouted as he started to run across the street.

"No, don't!" he cried out but it was too late, a car was speeding down the lane that Lambo had frozen in, finally understanding the situation he was in.

Things were happening so fast Tsuna couldn't quite comprehend. One moment he was standing on the curb and the next he was shoved onto the sidewalk. He saw the car try to stop, its tires screeching on the road and he could smell the burning rubber. He couldn't see Lambo, all he saw was someone's shoe flying through the air as he heard the sickening thump of a body hitting the ground, hard.

* * *

Translations:

Oye - Hey


	8. Boxers or Briefs?

Reina panted heavily as she lay hunched over in the middle of the street. She had curled herself around the same kid she had found with the lettuce earlier, trying to save him from the impact of a speeding car, only to receive a portion of it herself. Why had she done that? She honestly had no idea. She had just thrown herself in front of a moving vehicle to save a kid she really didn't know or care about. She curled her toes experimentally to make sure that she could still use her feet and noted that she had lost one of her sandals at some point during her roll. Groaning, she slowly got to her feet with the boy still clutched close to her chest.

Much to her displeasure, a crowd had gathered around the scene. The driver of the car rushed over to her and started to splutter apologies, but she shoved him away with one hand; there was no excuse he could possibly spout that she would accept. A few spectators had pulled out their phones and she could only guess that they were taking videos and pictures, and to them she gave the most vicious, murderous glare she could muster at the moment. She was probably quite the sight to them; short, disheveled hair, dirt from the pavement, blood oozing from the cuts that stung her cheeks and arms, and probably more than a few bruises. Yes, this was most likely the most exciting thing that had happened in Namimori since the last big earthquake.

She limped over to the curb half looking for her lost shoe and half looking for her neighbor so she could give him back the quivering form in her arms. She found him standing at the back of the crowd with a dumb expression on his face, just staring at her as she approached.

"This is yours," she grunted, shoving the boy into his limp arms.

She didn't give him time to respond before she continued down the street as if nothing happened, one shoe and a small stain spreading on the fabric of her bag from her carton of undoubtedly broken eggs.

* * *

Tsuna stood dumbfounded for a few moments with Lambo uncharacteristically quiet in his arms, staring after his neighbor. Hid didn't believe what just happened. His neighbor was the kind of person that would let some random kid get run over… right? Apparently not.

"You should go make sure she's okay."

Tsuna nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Reborn's voice next to him.

"Hiie! Reborn!" he squealed, tightening his grip around Lambo unknowingly.

Lambo made his discomfort known by suddenly thrashing around and catching Tsuna on the nose with one of his clenched fists.

"Why shoulb I do dat?" he asked, pinching his sore nose. _She's always so mean to me!_ He added in his mind.

"Because she just saved Lambo's life," the infant hit-man pointed out, "he may be a headache, but just think how Mama would be if something happened to him."

Tsuna fell silent as he thought about this. His mother did have an unusually soft spot for the obnoxious boy, and she would be devastated if anything happened to him; Haru and Kyoko, too.

"Okay," he agreed, his soft voice was barely audible over the murmuring of the dispersing crowd.

He barely noticed his tutor's devious smirk as they made their way back to the neighborhood. None of the crowd noticed their departure, and for that he was thankful; he didn't quite feel up to the task of answering the spectator's rushed questions about his neighbor. He didn't even think he could answer his own questions about his neighbor! Maybe traveling overseas had changed her somehow…

Before he knew it, Tsuna was standing outside of Reina's house with his hand raised to knock. He withdrew his hand quickly as if he had been about to touch a hot coal. Was it wise to intrude upon her? Based off of the looks she had been giving people on the street, she didn't want to be disturbed.

"Tch, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn grunted as he pulled out his pistol, "don't tell me you're going to chicken out!"

"What? N-no!" the student spluttered, dropping Lambo and waving his hands in front of him; but it was too late.

The hit-man turned tutor was all too eager to pull the trigger, sending one of his special bullets between his student's eyes.

* * *

Reina lounged on her couch amid the scattered contents of her first aid kit. Gauze, band-aids, sutures, and a bottle of old sake – she couldn't find the rubbing alcohol. She was worn out from her stunt earlier; also, she _might_ have taken a swig of the sake…

She was jolted from her state of not-quite-sleep by the sound of someone at her door. More like the sound of someone ripping her door off of its hinges, actually.

"REBORN!" her unexpected visitor roared "CHECK ON SOTO-SAN AS IF I WERE TO DIE!"

"¡Ay Dios mio!" she yelled as she sat straight up, agitating some of the cuts she had gained on her arms. "Haven't you heard of knocking? It was unlocked! You owe me a new freaking door!" she declared as she sent a withering glare at the intruder.

She blinked in surprise, it was her neighbor. In his underwear. With a flame on his head… Wait, what?

"The Hell is wrong with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

The flame on Tsuna's head flickered for a moment before going out completely, leaving him clad in only his boxers and a stupid expression.

"Huh," she grunted as she eased herself back on to the couch cushions, "I always figured you for a briefs kind of guy, funny."

* * *

Translations:

¡Ay Dios mio! - Oh my God!


	9. House Call

Tsuna stood gaping like his namesake for a few moments before he was kicked in the back of the head by his infant tutor.

"Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn tutted, "Do I have to shoot you again?"

"Hiie! No! Don't do that!" the pre-teen pleaded, ducking down and throwing his arms over his head.

"¡Oye!" Reina barked from the couch, still lying down, "Take it outside! I'm not cleaning up anyone's blood but mine!"

The color drained from Tsuna's face at her demand; she wasn't serious, was she? He could almost feel Reborn's beady eyes light up with a sadistic light.

"I, uh… I wanted to, erm, I mean…" Tsuna shifted nervously, rubbing his arms.

"Atún, I swear to _God_," she started with a groan, "if you tell me that you love me…"

"NO!" he squeaked in horror before starting again in a semi-calmer voice, "I mean, no. I… I mean _we_," he glanced over at Reborn to make sure he was still there, "wanted to… ah, make sure that you were okay… after what happened, that's all!"

Reina peeked over the back of the couch with a skeptically arched eyebrow.

"Your concern is touching, but not needed," she said and waved the two off, " but I've already patched myself up."

"At least let us call you a doctor," Reborn said, already punching numbers into his phone.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked, huffing as she rested her head on the arm of the couch.

"No," the infant answered frankly, slipping his phone into his jacket pocket.

Tsuna heard her groan before releasing a string of –what he assumed to be – curses in a different language.

"Do you not like doctors, Soto-san?" he asked cautiously.

"Sure, let's go with that," she muttered as she massaged her temples.

"Reborn-san!" a new, male voice exploded through the doorway, "I came as soon as I could, where is the patient?"

"Shamal!" Tsuna jumped at the man's sudden entrance. "What are you doing here?"

"Your patient is on the couch," Reborn directed the lecherous doctor calmly.

The physician pranced around the couch wearing a dopey grin; clearly he had been drinking earlier.

"Hey," the smile dropped from his face, "I thought I told you I only treat women!"

A drop of sweat dripped down Tsuna's head at the adult's actions. Shamal was most likely remarking on his neighbor's short hair and lack of prominent chest to balance it out. (Just because he wasn't interested in her like that didn't mean he didn't notice those things! He would have mistaken her for a man if he didn't know better…)

"Oh, _vete a la mierda_," Reina grunted, giving the doctor a good view of her middle finger, "I didn't even want you here to begin with."

"What's this?" Shamal hummed, "I _hear _a woman, but I only see guys…"

"Reina-chan is a girl," Reborn informed him with a slight smirk.

"Really?" the fully grown man mused as he rubbed his stubble. "Hmm…" he appeared deep in thought as he lifted up Reina's lose shirt.

"THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she roared, sitting straight up and punching him in the jaw.

"Hiie! Shamal!" Tsuna squeaked, scurrying over to check on the doctor.

"Well, what do you know?" the man chuckled as blood flowed from his now busted lip, "She is definitely a female."

"All of you! Out of my house, now!" Reina seethed, pointing a finger towards the door.

They might have listened to her if her words weren't followed almost immediately by a hiss of pain and her clutching her side. Tsuna squeaked as he rushed over to his neighbor's side, only to be shoved away by Shamal.

"Lie back down," he ordered as he gently pushed her back to the couch, "you have bruising on your ribs, and it's possible that one or two are broken."

She scoffed at his advice, but complied anyways. "Do anything funny and I'll turn your ass in," she threatened in just loud enough for him to hear as the doctor pressed two fingers against the side she had been clutching. "I could use the spare change…"

Reborn's tiny ears perked up when he heard this. He knew his worthless student wouldn't have been able to hear what his neighbor said, so he decided not to push the subject as he jumped off the couch, grabbing a fistful of Tsuna's hair and dragging him out the door.

"Come on Dame-Tsuna," he said, "you have homework to do."

"So…" Shamal drawled a while later when he had finished his "check up", a lewd smile making its way to his lips, "About my payment…"

"You have ten seconds to get out of my house before I call the police and tell them that you violated me," Reina growled, already reaching for her phone.

"Some other time then…"

* * *

Tsuna had to take a deep, calming breath before he passed Reina's house on his way to school the next day. The vacant doorway gaped like a mouth trying to suck him in as he scurried past it with his head down. Once he felt that he was a safe distance away he chanced a glance behind him and squeaked. Sometime during the night his neighbor had strung police caution tape across her doorway and drawn a chalk outline of a body on the pavement next to her mailbox.

_What a sick joke to play!_ He shuddered as he hurried on to school, he couldn't afford another tardy!

* * *

Translations:

¡Oye! - Hey!

Atún - Tuna

vete a la mierda_ - _f*** you


	10. Questions

"So, what do you make of her?" Reborn asked as he sat in the nurse's office with Shamal, sipping his usual espresso.

"Who? The new homeroom teacher for 3B?" the doctor asked, perking up from his notes. "I can't wait to give her a physical! If you know what I mean," he said as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"No," Reborn rolled his eyes, "Dame-Tsuna's neighbor."

"Oh, her," Shamal scoffed, "I've seen better. Maybe she'll grow into something in a few years…" he trailed off in thought, "I should do a follow up then!"

Reborn sighed as he set his coffee aside with a shake of his head; he needed the hit-man doctor's head out of the gutter for this conversation.

"She has a tattoo, though," the doctor continued as he tapped his pen against his chin thoughtfully, "and assuming that she got it legally she's at least 18. There was also an open bottle of sake so that makes her, what? 20?"

"No," Reborn shook his head with a frown, "Nana said that she was 15, about to turn 16 in a month or so."

"So Sawada's neighbor is a little delinquent? How scandalous!" Shamal chuckled as he scribbled a few things in his notes.

* * *

Reina sat in her front doorway with a mechanical drill in one hand while she tried to align the drill-bit with the holes of a new set of hinges. She was having a bit of trouble considering that her side would twinge whenever she angled her arm a certain way. Needless to say that her morning was full of muttered curses and strange looks from passer-bys.

"Need help?"

She snapped her head to the side at the squeaky voice that cut through her brooding before turning back to her task with a frown.

"You can, actually," she said as she drove the last screw into the doorframe and got to her feet. "You can help me test out my new door!" she finished with a faux smile by slamming the door in Reborn's face.

She set the drill down on a hall table and dusted her hands off, congratulating herself on a job well done. Was it necessary to shut the door in the baby's face? No, it wasn't. But damn did it make her feel good!

"That wasn't very nice…" the Arcoballeno frowned as he sat on her kitchen counter with his arms crossed.

"Well… neither was the pervy doctor, so I guess we're even," Reina shrugged, not even bothering to ask how he had gotten in. "Now if you don't mind leaving…" she trailed off, motioning to the door.

"Not until you answer my questions," the baby bargained, crossing his legs in a business-like manner.

"Fine, shoot," she grunted, crossing her arms and taking up a defensive stance.

"Where were you two nights ago?" he asked, getting right to the issue that was bothering him the most.

"I was here," she said as she narrowed her eyes slightly, "and I was there, mostly there. You need to be more specific."

"What were you doing in Italy two nights ago?" Reborn rephrased his question, "And tell the truth, I can read your mind."

"Really?" Reina snorted with a roll of her eyes, "I was craving pizza."

"That's a lie," he said, irritation slipping into his voice.

"Very good!" the brunette teen applauded sarcastically. "Did your mind reading powers tell you that?"

"You shouldn't lie to me anymore," the infant growled, his chameleon transforming into a pistol, "my patience is wearing thin."

"Humph, you're in the wrong business if you don't want to hear lies," she scoffed, turning her head to the side.

For a brief, fraction of a moment Reborn could have sworn that he was talking to someone else; someone who was very, very tired. But the small moment passed when Reina turned back to look him in the eyes. He was talking to the enigma again.

"If you _must_ know, I had business of a personal nature to attend to," she said, and he knew by the light in her eyes that was the most straight-forward answer he was going to receive from her on the subject.

"Why did you save Lambo?" he asked after a pause, Leon returned to his lizard form and crawled onto the brim of his fedora.

"Was I not supposed to?" she asked in return, arching an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

Any response from him was cut off by a phone ringing. Reina reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, old cell phone, flipping it open and answering before the device got to ring a second time.

"Hola," she chirped in a bright voice. She listened to the other side for a moment, nodding her head before she covered the receiver with her hand and whispered, "How about a deal?" she started, Reborn's ears perked up at this. "You stay out of my business and I'll stay out of yours."

* * *

Reina had to step back and applaud herself for completing the daunting task presented to her. It had taken almost a day, but she had scrubbed the worldwide web of any and all photos and videos that had appeared after the car incident. Let's just say that a lot of people were going to wake up with corrupted files. She was a bit worried though, there was still a 24-hour period where any number of people might have gotten a partial match on her picture and traced it back to Namimori. Needless to say she was more than a bit anxious to see who might show up looking for her.

She felt that some kind of reward was in order for her, but that was going to have to wait a while. She had received a call earlier telling her about a bounty that needed collecting nearby. She had always found it odd that any criminal in Namimori – small time crook or the head of crime organization – received a large bounty rather quickly when compared to other parts of Japan, or even the world for that matter… None the less, she had no time to question the motives of those who called the shots. She had a goal to achieve, and she was beginning to care less and less how it was accomplished.


	11. A Warning

"Ah, La Reina," a woman in a crisp suit greeted as Reina walked through a set of sliding glass doors, "another job well done, I trust?"

"Of course," Reina said smugly as her eye flicked around the white room behind her oversized sunglasses.

The walls were white and two white cushioned chairs were arranged around a glass coffee table with a white orchid growing in a white pot in the middle, and a white secretary's desk which the woman was seated at was pushed into a corner of the room. Reina was still trying to figure out if these people were trying to recreate the feel of a hospital or were just really cheap when it came to decorating. The harsh fluorescent light was making her lean towards her first impression.

"I hope you understand," the woman started as she handed Reina an unmarked envelope, "but after the incident in Namimori we won't be contacting you in a while."

"I can assure you that I've rectified the situation," Reina frowned as she accepted the envelope.

"Yes, we know," the secretary's silver eyes reflected slight annoyance, "but it's a precaution that we take with everyone we deal with. Just keep your head down for a few months and everything will be back to normal."

_Define normal_, Reina bit the inside of her cheek to keep the comment in her head. She was reasonably sure that normal didn't include flying all over the globe to kill people.

"Until then keep your guard up," the woman advised as Reina began to walk away, "we got a tip that the Vongola was looking for you."

"Yeah," the brunette muttered to herself as she stepped through the doorway, "I heard that, too."

* * *

Summer vacation, what a magical time! School is out and all the students run free in a state of semi-anarchy, such a beautiful sight. Unless your name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, then you're cooped up in Summer School because your grades suck so much.

Tsuna sighed in misery as he looked out the window longingly at the beautiful summer day that was taunting him with its clear blue sky. He could be home playing video games and eating his mother's cooking right now, or at the pool with his friends; and if he was lucky then Kyoko would be there in a bikini. Kyoko in a bikini… his mouth started to water at the thought as he mind conjured the image of his – and half of the boys in his class's – crush scantily clad and splashing water at someone else at the local pool.

"Sawada!" the teacher's vice cut through his fantasy and he was ashamed to find that a trail of drool was dripping down his chin. "Please tell me what I was just saying!"

"Um…" he fumbled for a moment as he tried to come up with something believeable, nothing came readily to mind.

"Thought so," the teacher clicked her tongue in disappointment as she pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "I am truly sorry, Soto-chan," she sighed to the person standing next to her, "I promise not all of the students are as hopeless as Sawada."

_Hiie! Soto-san's here?_ Tsuna thought as his heart began to thump against his ribcage in panic.

"Nonsense," Reina's lightly accented voice floated around the classroom, and he would have sworn that more than half of the boys gave a love-sick sigh. "I'm sure there's _something_ that he excels at."

"Yeah, failing," a boy two rows over snickered into his hand. The group around him began to laugh as well and offered him high-fives for his remark.

Tsuna tried to sink lower into his seat, praying that the floor would open up and swallow him to save him from any further embarrassment. His prayers went unanswered, as usual.

"As I was saying," the teacher continued, ignoring the rude comment, "Soto-chan will be my assistant this session, so give her as much respect as you would give me. Now, does anyone have any questions for Soto-chan?"

Almost all of the hands in the room shot up.

"How old are you?" one of the boys near the front asked innocently enough.

"I'm actually going to turn 16 during this session," Reina answered with a smile, "I look forward to spending my birthday with you all."

"If you're 15 then how did you get this job?" one of the few girls in the classroom asked obnoxiously, "Shouldn't you, like, still be in school or something?"

"I was homeschooled overseas, so I finished school a while ago," Reina answered, but Tsuna could hear the scathing comment that wanted so badly to come out instead: _Shouldn't you be out sucking some random guy's dick for drug money, you little hooker?_ He could hardly blame her for wanting to say something like that, the girl who had asked the question was hardly ever at school and when she was she made grades on par with him; many people had thought that she had already dropped out or something like that.

The class burst out in excited murmurs at this, not many people in Namimori had even thought about the outside world, so this was indeed a rarity.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" the teacher huffed, "One more question right now, you can ask the rest a break."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" a boy in the back shouted over the rest of the class.

"Sorry, you're not my type," she shot him down immediately with a playful smirk.

"Mah, isn't that your neighbor?" Yamamoto asked, leaning over the aisle.

Tsuna could only nod as he took a shaky breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. This was going to be an interesting summer session for sure.

* * *

Translations:

La Reina - The Queen


	12. Summer Session

"Where all did you travel, Soto-san?"

"Where was your favorite place to visit, Soto-san?"

"Do you want to eat lunch with me, Soto-san?"

"Soto-san?"

"Soto-san?"

"Soto-san?"

If Reina heard one more student call out her name she could not be held responsible for what she would do, she just couldn't be! This was the only job she could find for the summer, and she was seriously beginning to regret it. But at least it paid semi-well.

It was now time for the students' lunch break, and before any more could bombard her with questions she escaped with the pretence of going to the bathroom. Instead of going to the facilities she turned and headed straight for the nearest staircase and began to climb.

There was something almost therapeutic in the way the sun and the breeze caressed her skin when she opened the door and stepped out onto the concrete of the roof. She took a deep breath and released it slowly as she relished in the feeling for a long moment. Her peace was soon interrupted by the sound of people coming up the stairs talking rather loudly.

"Mah, I was hoping that Soto-san would stay in the classroom for lunch, I really wanted to ask her some more questions!"

"I'm actually happy she left," a second voice admitted, "she scares me a bit; I couldn't concentrate at all when she was there!"

Reina recognized the second voice as her neighbor's and she couldn't help but smirk a bit. She had picked on him quite a bit when they were younger, before she went to China and all the bounty business was started. Ah, the good old days when she was so young and innocent…

"Hiie! Soto-san!" she heard Tsuna squeak from behind her.

"Ha ha, what a coincident!" his companion laughed, "We were just talking about you!"

"Only good things I hope," she smiled as she turned around to face the two boys. "You're Yamamoto-kun, correct?" she addressed the tall boy standing next to her neighbor, "I saw your name on the roster."

"Yup, that's right!" the boy said cheerily as he rubbed the back of his head, "I was wondering if you could help me with a math problem; I don't get it at all!"

"Maybe later," Reina said as she rubbed her stomach, "I have other things I need to do first." _Like find some food…_ "See ya'!" she called out behind her as she walked back down the stairs.

* * *

There was no word for how thankful Reina was that the day was over, there honestly wasn't. She had reached her patience limit for the week – possibly the moth – and it had only been one day! How was she expected to go through the remaining 39 days of the summer session without injuring anybody?

"Ah! Soto-san!" she cringed at the sound of her name and pretended not to hear the boy calling out to her.

"Soto-san," the boy panted as he jogged up beside her, "do you want me to walk you home? It can be very dangerous around here."

"In Namimori?" Reina clarified with an arched eyebrow, Namimori was about as dangerous as a new born animal.

"Hai," the boy nodded as he straightened up, "a girl got hit by a car not long ago, and I would hate for that to happen to you," he trailed off as a blush crept up his cheeks.

"Don't worry," she said with a wave of her hand, "Sawada-kun has already said that he'd walk me home," she reached out to grab her passing neighbor by the arm and held on to him like he was her lifeline out of the situation, which he was.

"Eh? I did?" Tsuna blinked in confusion.

"Yeah!" Reina nodded as she started to walk away with him, "Remember? At lunch?"

The other boy was left to stare after them with a dumbfounded expression. _Man_, he thought as he hung his head and trudged towards his own home, _how does Sawada get all the girls? First Kyoko-chan and now Soto-san…_

"Thank you for playing along," Reina said in a low voice as she let go of Tsuna's arm, "sorry if I startled you or anything…"

"Oh, erm… not at all," Tsuna stuttered as the ground became increasingly interesting to him.

An awkward silence passed between them as they walked down the quiet streets of their neighborhood.

"Do you need some help with the homework?" Reina asked, trying to start a conversation to keep the quiet at bay.

"No!" he squeaked as he shook his head, "No, Yamamoto's coming over for dinner to work on it together."

"Oh, okay," she nodded as she started down the path to her front door. "If you need any help you know where to find me!" she smiled before unlocking her door and entering her house.

Tsuna sighed as he crossed the alley to his house, maybe he should have taken her up on her offer… she must be lonely over there all by herself…

_No!_ He thought as he shook his head violently to rid himself of those thoughts, _She's probably just acting nice because she was in public!_ He shuddered as he remembered how she had threatened Gokudera. Yes, it was definitely an act…

* * *

Reina had her face contorted in deep concentration as she stared at the computer screen and left-clicked rapidly. This enemy just wouldn't die! Who knew that the Silver Hand would be so durable… or was her character just laughably weak with swords? She _did_ mostly use bow and magic to dispatch her enemies, maybe she should pay someone to train her in the art of blades…

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and almost broke her concentration, but it held firm.

God damned werewolf hunters! What did it matter to them if she had lycanthropy? It was her virtual life; let her live it as she pleased!

The person tapped her again on the shoulder, and she swatted the hand away.

"Go away, Yoshiro," she growled as she began to click harder, because in her mind there was a relation between how hard she clicked and how hard her character attacked. "I'm busy."

Whatever the person said, if they said anything, was drowned out by the sound of her opponent dying and her leveling up.

"Hell yeah!" she cheered as she paused the game and took off her headphones. "Get some! Level 27 bi—you're not Yoshiro," she blinked, now facing the person.

Actually, it was an infant, and that infant's name was Reborn, not Yoshiro as she noted.

"You broke the deal," the baby hit-man frowned as his trusty chameleon turning into a hand gun, "now I get to hear all about your business."


	13. Answers

"Okay," Reina sighed in defeat. "First off, you don't need the gun; I _always_ honor a deal that I've made." _Unlike __**some**__ people…_

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Reborn smirked as Leon turned back into a lizard and scuttled back to the brim of his hat.

"Just trying to be a good girl and keep my nose clean, that's all," she answered evasively as she closed her laptop, leaving the realm of Skyrim for now. "It wouldn't do to have the Vongola pissed off at me now would it?"

"No, it wouldn't," the infant chuckled as he settled onto the arm of the couch she was seated on. "Now, what's your name?"

"What is this? A test?" the brunette frowned, "My name's Reina, always has been… to my knowledge…"

"Not Soto Reina?" he pressed, arching an eyebrow.

"Eh, I've been known to go by that on occasion," she waved a hand in the air, "but I prefer just 'Reina', I have yet to meet any gilipollas named that yet, like I have with Soto."

"So you don't like Soto-san?"

"Is it really so obvious?" the sarcasm practically _dripped_ from her voice. "Let's just say that there are people that I like a lot more than him and leave it at that."

"Okay, fair enough," Reborn agreed before thinking of his next question, "how many languages do you speak?"

"More than I should, that's for sure," she sighed, shaking her head with a mirthless smile. "It's gotten to a point where my _thoughts_ don't even stay in the same language for more than a few words."

"Which one did you learn first, then?"

"Español," she answered with a grin, "soy de España."

The Arcoballeno nodded to himself as he filed this information away for later and decided on his next question, "What do you do?"

"Well, I like to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide pretty much every moment I'm alive," she drawled as laughter glittered in her eyes, "I am also very good at breaking down food so I can absorb nutrients, I can give you a demonstration some time if you like…"

"I meant what you do for a job." The humor was clearly lost on the baby.

"Oh, well right now I'm an assistant teacher at Nami Chuu for the Summer Session, but I prefer higher paying jobs that allow me to travel. Speaking of which," she said as she stole a glance at a clock hanging on the wall, "I have an early morning tomorrow, so if you don't mind…"

Reborn caught the hint to leave, but he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to take it; he might not get a chance like this again.

"I'll be glad to answer any more questions that you might have later," she calmed his unspoken fear.

"One last question," Reborn said as he jumped off the couch and began to walk to the door.

"Of course," Reina smiled as she opened the door for him.

"What were you doing in Italy?"

"You know those jobs that I was talking about earlier?"

"Yes…" Reborn could already tell where this was going.

"Something like that," she smiled wider before closing the door.

* * *

Hibari frowned as he flipped through to the papers on his desk. The school had hired some herbivore to assist with the Summer Session without clearing it with him first, causing him to be more than a little bit irritated on this fine summer day. He pushed the first sheet aside with a bored expression on his face, it was the typical herbivore student teacher as far as he was concerned – at least, that's how he felt until the herbivore's picture grinned up at him from the top of the stack.

It was the nameless herbivore, the one who he had failed to bite to death.

His earlier failure came back and slapped him in the face. This herbivore was either looking for a rematch or very stupid. Judging by the academic record that had been submitted with her application, he was going to – begrudgingly – go with the first option. Well, if it was a rematch that the herbivore wanted then he would be all too willing to oblige, and this time he would be sure to beat the defiant light out of her eyes.

* * *

"Eto… Soto-chan," Masako – the teacher Reina was assisting – started nervously a little before class was to begin, "you're wanted in the Reception room."

There was a collective gasp from the students seated within ear-shot.

"Is that a bad thing?" Reina blinked at the students' reactions.

"Don't go, Soto-san!" a boy pleaded, and Reina swore that his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Hibari-san will _kill_ you! Don't do it!" a girl nodded furiously in agreement.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not _that_ bad," Reina laughed as she began to walk to the door, "I'll be fine! Where is this place anyways?" she asked as she paused in the doorway.

"Fourth floor of the Third Year Building," Masako said in a faint voice.

"Okay! Don't have too much fun without me, Honda-san!" the brunette teen smiled before strolling down the hall.

It didn't take long for Reina to navigate through the vacant halls of Nami Chuu. Her footsteps echoed off the walls and were soon joined by another, much lighter set. She glanced over in the direction that the footsteps originated from and nodded to her pint-sized companion.

"Arcoballeno," she greeted before looking back in front of her.

"Do you know who you're going to meet?" Reborn asked as he kept pace with her much longer strides.

"Nope," she admitted freely, "but everyone's acting like I'm going to encounter some kind of diablo… you don't happen to know why, do you?" she glanced down out of the corner of her eye at him with a suspicious expression.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" the infant smirked as he gestured to the door marked **Reception Room** they had come to a stop at.

Reina gave a slight shrug as if to say "What's the worst that could happen?" and then slowly wrapped her hand around the doorknob for dramatic effect – why she did that she didn't quite know. The door creaked on its hinges as it swung inward, and she noticed that Reborn had vanished into thin air.

_Weird baby_, she thought as her gazed lifted from where the hit-man once stood.

Her shoulders sagged a bit and a tired expression crossed her face when she saw the person seated behind a large desk on one side of the room.

"Really?" she sighed in exasperation.

* * *

Translations:

gilipollas - ... let's just say that it's a name you call someone you _really_ don't like

Español - Spanish

soy de España - I'm from Spain


	14. Round Two

"Herbivore," Hibari acknowledged the girl standing in the doorway without looking up from the papers on his desk.

"Really?" her voice went up in pitch as she repeated her question. "What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be on Summer Vacation right now?"

He ignored her questions as he arranged the papers in a neat stack, scanning the first page. Her name was Soto Reina – though it didn't matter because he would never use it – and it said that she was actually younger than he was – that didn't matter either, he would still bite her to death – the paper also said that she had been homeschooled and scored extraordinarily high on the entrance exam to many universities, but had accepted none of their offers. He frowned at the last bit of information, why had those herbivorous administrators hired someone that hadn't even attended a college course? He would have to bite them to death for that…

"What do you want?" she asked, cutting through his plotting. "Surely you didn't call me here to watch you read..."

Hibari's permanent glare slid from the paper up to the herbivore, and he noted with a smidgen of pride that she flinched a bit under his metallic gaze. His pride was eclipsed by anger when the defiant light in her eyes flared dangerously. He would have to teach her the rules if she was to stay.

"Herbivore," he started coolly as he rose from his seat, setting the papers aside for now, "for violating the dress code you will be bitten to death."

"What?" she deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest, "What dress code? It's summer, in case you're too dense to notice…"

"All teachers must wear the proper attire while working," he explained as he drew his tonfas from his sleeve. He didn't actually know if that was a rule, but he didn't need much of a reason to put this herbivore back in her place.

"Well, then its good thing I'm not a teacher," she said as her eyes narrowed at his weapons. He could see the debate in her eyes whether or not she should draw her own.

"Hn, regardless," he grunted as he raised one tonfa, ready to attack, "kamikorosu."

* * *

Reina seriously regretted leaving her collapsible staff at home right now. She could almost hear it taunting her from the pile of dirty clothes she had left it under. If only she had known that there was a freaking _sociopath_ that was going to want to fight her…

She calmly kicked the door shut behind her, no need for any innocent students passing by to see this. The sound of the door slamming closed acted as a starting bell, sending both of them into action. The prefect swung for her head, which she dodged by rolling to the side. She quickly scanned the room in search of something she could use as a weapon, but her search was cut short when a metal tonfa was rammed into her stomach.

The air rushed from her lungs and for a moment it seemed like she was going to fall to the ground gasping for breath. That moment ended abruptly when she wrapped her hands around the weapon still buried in her abdomen and wrenched it from the boy's hands. She quickly retreated to the other side of a black leather couch, it was clear that she wasn't going to be leaving this room if she didn't beat this boy, _again_.

She gripped her newly acquired weapon in her right hand and swung it a few times to get a feel for its heft before catching the advancing prefect in the chin with a swift uppercut, stunning him for a moment. Apparently he didn't expect her to be able to use his weapon to any great extent. Silly boy…

* * *

Hibari stumbled back a bit, he had not expected the herbivore to attack him with his own weapon, and he had definitely not expected it to hurt quite this much… He smirked at the throbbing in his jaw as he absently rubbed the spot where she had hit, surely this was one of the most worthy opponents he had every faced. It would be so fulfilling put her down.

He came back at full force, backing her into a corner with constant attack that she barely blocked. It was clear who the master tonfa wielder was between the two of them. He could see her wearing down bit by bit as the ring of metal hitting metal bounced off of the walls around them. He could see panic light in her eyes when her back hit one of the bookshelves lining the wall and she tried to head-butt him in a desperate attempt to escape. He easily sidestepped the attack and allowed her to stumble past him before starting his assault anew. Clearly this herbivore was nothing without her weapon.

* * *

Reina's arm was beginning to ache from blocking all of the prefect's attacks, and she couldn't switch the tonfa to her left hand. She had to disarm her opponent quickly if she wanted a chance at winning this duel. Why did she even care if she won? Her stupid pride just wouldn't let her lose…

She turned quickly and swung blindly at the boy and she heard the familiar clang of metal against metal followed by something clattering against the floor not far away. She looked wildly over towards the sound and saw a metal tonfa glistening in the sunlight spilling through the windows. She glanced at her right hand and saw her knuckles turning white from how tightly she was holding her weapon. A half-crazed grin broke out across her face as she tossed her tonfa aside and faced the prefect head on. She could definitely take him in hand to hand; the trick would be not killing him on accident.

* * *

Hibari chastised himself for not holding onto his weapon tighter. That was one of the first lessons he had been taught! But that didn't matter; he would still bite this herbivore to death. He was mildly surprised when she tossed his other tonfa to the floor and assumed a martial arts position. So the herbivore wanted to fight hand to hand? She was definitely a fool for thinking that she could beat him without a weapon.


	15. 2 to 0

The desperation from Reina's earlier movements was completely gone as she easily flowed between blocking and attacking. She could see mild surprise in the prefect's eyes before that damn smirk reappeared and he matched her blow for blow. A low growl rumbled in the back of her throat as she ducked to the side only to swing with her left as she straightened up. The boy caught her fist in a vice-like grip and his smirk grew as he tightened his hold. She could feel her muscles and bones groaning under the strain, but she wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of seeing her discomfort.

Had the last time they'd fought been a fluke? Had she just caught him by surprise or on an off day? She made a mental note to up her training regimen; there was no excuse for this!

She felt behind her for an improvised weapon and a smirk of her own crossed her features when she felt the top of the desk. She stopped pushing against the boy's grip, causing him to lose his balance. She took advantage of his stumble and twirled around, pushing him up against the desk. She blocked a wild swing from him with her forearm as she pressed her other arm against his throat, pinning him to the desk.

"Dead," she said softly with a triumphant grin. "That's two for me and none for you; you need to step up your game Prefect-san."

It looked like he was about to say something back – probably along the lines of "It's not over until I say it is" – but at that moment someone chose to burst through the door yelling.

"Hibari-sama! There's –" the newcomer forgot whatever it was that he was going to say when he saw "Hibari-sama" pinned to his desk by a stranger. "Uh…"

_Well this isn't awkward at all_, Reina drawled inward as she sized up the teen in the doorway. He looked older than he probably was, that probably had something to do with the pompadour hairstyle he sported. She was guessing that his hair got places a good 30 seconds before the rest of him did. Hanging loosely from his gaping mouth was a stem of grass, giving him a certain "Country Hick" vibe.

"What is it, Kusakabe?" Hibari growled as he shoved her off of him, straightening his clothes as if nothing had happened.

"Um, there are some students from, uh, the high school…" Kusakabe stuttered, stull trying to make sense of what he had seen.

Hibari left the room without another word, leaving Reina and the confused teen alone.

"Hi!" she chirped happily as she smoothed down her shirt. "I'm Reina, and you are…?"

"Kusakabe Tetsuya," he replied almost mechanically.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said politely as she passed by him into the hallway. "I'll be seeing you around," she called back over her shoulder as she strolled leisurely back to class.

* * *

"So, erm, Soto-san," Tsuna started nervously as his neighbor sat across from him at lunch, helping Yamamoto with a math worksheet. "What did Hibari-san want?"

"Hm? The prefect?" she asked, looking up from the paper. "Nothing really," she shrugged before returning her attention to the numbers on the page. "So now you divide by this and that should be your answer," she finished, pointing at certain digits.

"Ah! That's really easy!" Yamamoto grinned, having grasped the concept. "You're really good at this, Soto-san!"

Reina smiled and gave a slight shrug before taking a drink from a bottle of water. "If you say so…"

"You were gone for quite some time," a new, squeaky voice interrupted.

"Hiie! Reborn!" Tsuna squeaked, how long had the baby been listening?

"What were you doing in there for so long?" Reborn pressed.

"Trust me, it was nothing," she rolled her eyes as she got up. "The prefect and I just had some unfinished business that has yet to be resolved," she explained before she left to see if any other students needed help.

"Hm? I wonder what kind of business those two could have," Yamamoto mused as he laced his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

Again the image of Hibari and his neighbor sitting together on the school roof holding hands flashed before Tsuna's eyes, causing a shudder to run down his spine.

"I don't want to know!" he declared as he shook his head furiously, trying to clear the disturbing image from his mind.

"You should, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn chided as he kicked his student in the head, "you should take an interest in your subordinates' lives."

"What?" the middle school student squawked, "She's not my subordinate! Why would I have subordinates?"

"Well, if you're going to be a Mafia Boss..." Reborn trailed off with a smirk.

"Ha ha, are you guys talking about the Mafia game?" Yamamoto asked with his usual obliviousness.

"Yup," Reborn nodded, ignoring Tsuna's sounds of protest, "do you think it would be a good idea if Reina-chan joined?"

"Yeah!" the baseball player nodded enthusiastically, "she can help us with our homework, too!"

"Well then it's settled," Reborn nodded and then turned to Tsuna, "you're asking her to join your Famiglia."

"What? No!" Tsuna refused, "Never in a million years!"

"Why not?" Yamamoto asked with a slight frown.

"You have no idea what she's really like!" Tsuna explained, "She's actually really mean! You remember what she said to Gokudera, right?"

"Well, she looked like she was really tired at the time, and we _were_ making a lot of noise," he reasoned as Reborn nodded along in agreement.

"Give her a chance, Dame-Tsuna," the infant tutor urged, "You won't regret it, trust me."

_Knowing you I will regret it_, Tsuna countered in his mind, but he was too terrified of the baby to say it aloud.


	16. A Weekend Trip

Tsuna gulped nervously as he lifted a shaking hand before taking another apprehensive glance behind him. Gokudera leaned against a lamp post with a moody expression while Yamamoto stood next to him grinning with Reborn perched on his shoulder. The baseball player gave an encouraging thumbs-up and Tsuna had to take a deep breath.

It had been decided – without his consent – that he would be the one to ask Reina about joining his "Famiglia". He tried to reason that there was no point in trying to build a family since he didn't even want to be a Mafia Boss, but his argument was quickly shot down by Reborn while Gokudera fumed at the suggestion that "that woman" should join their ranks and Yamamoto just laughed his usual oblivious laugh.

His trembling hand fell a bit as he thought of the possibility of rejection. Scratch that, it wasn't a possibility. There was no doubt in his mind that his neighbor would say no, and that was fine by him. Who needed all this Mafia nonsense? Not a teenage girl living in Namimori, and certainly not a middle school student that was having enough trouble passing his classes – i.e. him.

He was about to back out and leave the front door step when he heard it. It was the turning of the doorknob. Someone was going to open the door and it was too late for him to get out of the way. The next thing he knew he had been knocked into the bushes that grew next to the door with stars spinning in his vision and a slight coppery tang in his mouth. Somewhere in a dark corner of his mind it registered that someone was calling his name, but it sounded so far away…

"Yeah, yeah," a woman's accented voice sighed, "I'm on my way, you big baby. See you in the morning."

Tsuna blinked and a familiar figure swam into focus. It was his neighbor. She was dressed casually with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder and a cellphone in one hand while she fumbled with her keys with the other. She glanced down at him while she locked the door and blinked in mild surprise.

"Ah! Atún," she said as she offered him a hand up, "what're you doing in the bushes?"

"Uh," he began as he rubbed the sore spot on his forehead, but he was saved from having to answer by Gokudera.

"OI!" the silver-haired bomber seethed from his station at the lamp post, "What the Hell is wrong with you, woman?"

"… Anyways," Reina deadpanned with an arched eyebrow; shifting her attention back to the nervous boy she had fished out of the bushes, "I was just about to go talk to you."

"Really?" he squeaked, what did she possibly have to talk to him about?

"Sí," she nodded with a smile, "I'm going out of town for a while and I need someone to check the mail for me."

"Why are you going out of town?" Reborn piped up, causing Tsuna to visibly jump; when had he gotten there?

"Yoshiro's sick," she explained with a wave of her hand, "and since he's a male he's incapable of taking care of himself even in the best of health, so now I have to go to Tokyo to play nurse until he's all better. I'm not expecting anything, but if I get any letters or packages _don't_ open them," she finished, sending a pointed look at Reborn who played innocent.

"Why would we do that?" the infant asked in a sweet voice.

"Hn, you tell me," Reina scoffed as she started to walk towards the street.

* * *

Reina rubbed the corners of her eyes tiredly as she did her best to suppress a yawn. Evidently her best wasn't good enough and her jaw widened to allow more air into her lungs. She stared down at the papers in her lap in mild distaste before stuffing them back into her bag where she had found them. This was why she hated working with anyone outside of the Association; bad intelligence – actually, the intelligence part was arguable – bad contacts, bad pay, and bad _grammar_ even. But money was money, and she definitely needed some of that right now. Not that the tutor gig wasn't fulfilling in a spiritual, oh-you're-such-a-good-person sense, but it was seriously lacking in the secular, I-now-have-enough-money-to-pay-the-bills-and-live-like-a-human area.

Either way that didn't matter, she would be done with this job and off to bigger and better things before the night was out.

The train lurched into the station and the conductor came on the intercom saying that it was the end of the line. Reina sighed and gathered her things; she still had a few more kilometers to go before she reached the contact point. Good thing she wore comfy shoes. The rubber soles of her boots thudded dully against the dirty tile floor of the station, clearly this wasn't a prime destination. From the corner of her eye she saw a man rise from a bench and begin following her.

_Aw, my own welcoming committee_, she drawled in her mind as she played dumb to her shadow.

She kept her pace slow as she climbed the stairs up to street level, feigning fatigue about halfway up. She shot a glance behind her and got a good look at the person tailing her. It was a man wearing a dirty trench coat with the collar popped up, obscuring his face. His eyes were dark, matching his deep brown, almost black hair framing what little she could see of his pale face.

She blinked owlishly a few times as she tried to place the few features she could pick out, pretending to check the large clock hanging on a wall. She came up with nothing; he had the same features of almost every other Japanese man she had met. Ever. She guessed that he was either going to try to mug her or flash her, either way he would get a nasty shock.

She pretended to adjust her bag on her shoulder as she checked to make sure that her staff hadn't slipped from its hiding place. Nope, right where it belonged. With that thought she continued up the stairs and paused a moment before merging with the stream of people trickling by.

* * *

The only thing sparser than another living thing was working lamp posts, and that was saying something.

"Someone should write a letter," Reina muttered to herself as she passed beneath yet another burnt out bulb.

The street was dimly illuminated by light flowing from windows and the occasional sparking sign advertising either beer or girls, sometimes both. Ever the faithful shadow, the man from the station was still a few meters behind her, trying his best to not stand out. "Trying" being the operative word here.

She sighed heavily as she ducked into an alley, might as well get this over with. She waited impatiently for the man to follow her, dropping her bag to the ground to free up her movements. She let out an annoyed sigh when the man's silhouette appeared in the entrance – illuminated by possibly the only working light in this little slice of paradise. But before she could even deliver the smart mouth response she had spent the last few minutes preparing for him, there was a dull thunk and the man's form seemed to shudder before collapsing to the ground.

She stared at the limp man for a moment, so her shadow had a shadow? And she didn't notice? She made a mental note to stop playing so many video games and sharped her other skills, they were beginning to rust.

"You know," the new silhouette started as it stepped over the man's body, "you should really pay attention to your surroundings, you never know who could be out this time of night…"

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna

Sí - Yes


	17. Get Well Soon!

"Who're you?" Reina asked as her hand strayed towards her staff, eyes narrowed at this new stranger.

"Ah, yes," the shadow chuckled, "Where are my manners?" She could tell that it was male from the timbre of his voice.

"Well?" she pressed after a long moment of silence.

"Hm? Oh," the man seemed to have drifted off in thought, "I just remembered that I don't have any manners," he said and she could hear the cheeky grin that was sure to be on his face.

Reina didn't know whether or not she should sock this man in the face or just continue on with her night. She decided that he wasn't quite worth the effort, so she picked her bag up off the ground and tried to get past him to the street.

"Here, let me get that for you," he offered, catching her by the shoulder.

From this distance she could clearly pick out his features. Light blonde hair with caramel low-lights fell over blue eyes dancing with laughter. Wait… she knew this man.

"Guy?" she frowned, her glare lessening slightly.

"Miss me?" he asked with another grin.

Without missing a beat she stomped on one of his feet and rammed her elbow into his gut, sending him to the ground gasping for breath.

"Yeah," she admitted as she walked away, "but my aim's getting better."

* * *

Reina stared down at the sniveling man lying before her. Snot-filled tissues were scattered on the floor around him in a half-meter radius and on the low table next to him was an assortment of cold medication that rivaled a well-stocked drug store. Sprawled out on the couch beneath a blanket the man moaned pitifully and she could see the small beats of sweat rolling down his face.

"You are such a baby," she sighed with a shake of her head.

"Fuck you," the man said with a loud sniff, "Just make me some soup!"

"Poof, you're soup," she said as she dropped her bag just outside of the circle of tissues.

She had to pick her way carefully to the couch before pressing the back of her hand against his forehead. If she had to guess he had a temperature of about 37 degrees Celsius, but she wouldn't tell him that.

"I'm burning up, right?" he asked as he viewed her through half-lidded eyes.

"Nope," she lied as she left the circle of tissues, "it's all in your head. Go to sleep and I'll make something for you to eat."

"Make me soup!" he yelled after her as she entered the kitchen.

* * *

Yoshiro knew that Reina had been lying about his temperature, but he couldn't find the energy to call her out on it. Maybe it was the cold he had come down with that taxed his energy, or maybe he didn't feel like arguing with her at the moment. Yeah, that was probably it.

"Idiot," her voice floated through his stuffy head, "you knew to buy out possibly the _entire_ cold and flu section at the supermarket, but you didn't get any food. How the Hell have you survived?"

"My looks," he mumbled as he reached for another tissue.

"Hmph, piernas," she muttered, but he knew that she meant for him to hear it. "I have to go get some ingredients, don't die while I'm gone," she ordered as she unlocked his front door.

"I'm not making any promises," he called out after her before the door closed behind her and the lock clicked.

His gaze slid back to the ceiling above him as he listened to her muttering through the thin walls of the apartment building. Sometimes he wondered why she was so loyal to him, clearly she didn't like him if the things she called him was anything to go by. He was sure that he could go to any country that spoke Spanish and he would be able to start a fight no matter what the circumstances with half of the insults she had thrown at him over the years. Maybe it was because of their history together – but no, that couldn't be. The only thing he knew she felt stronger than her apparent hatred of him was her very real hatred for his father, so why should she care about him?

He remembered the first time he'd ever seen her with a fond smile. He'd asked his father why he'd brought him a little girl from his last "business trip" as a gift instead of a toy, he would have much rather preferred a toy. His mother had scolded him and then immediately began to dote over her, and he knew then that he would not like this "gift" at all.

He started to chuckle at that, he had ended up having fun with her after all. He would teacher her mean names to call their neighbor's kid and said that a punch in the face was saying hello in Japan, or kicking each other in the shin was what friends did in Namimori. Eventually she did learn and he received a lecture from his mother about teaching bad habits to people, but it was worth it.

He was suddenly tired – probably due to the various drugs flowing through his system – and he allowed himself to drift away, dreaming of the soup that Reina said that she would make him.

* * *

_Heh, sucker_, Reina smirked to herself as she retrieved the bills necessary to pay for the groceries from Yoshiro's wallet, there was no way that she'd foot the bill for the groceries he should've bought himself.

She smiled her thanks to the cashier and bag-boy as she collected her bags and headed out of the store. She made a mental list of the things she needed to do as she waited for the light to signal it was safe to cross the street. Make Yoshiro his soup, collect her money for her last job – a small frown made its way to her face at this, the people would most likely try to pay her less than they agreed to – and then get back to Namimori as quickly as possible to make sure that that damn baby didn't go through her mail.

As soon as the light changed she jogged across the street, thankful that Yoshiro's apartment was as close to the store as it was. She made her way up the stairs and pounded on his door. She waited a second before she started to grumble to herself as she began to shift the bags in her arms so she could retrieve the key he had given her.

"This boy," she muttered as she fished the key out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock, "has to make things so difficult."

She slammed the door shut behind her and didn't bother to lock it as she continued to the kitchen where she dropped her bags onto the island. She heard Yoshiro jolt awake with a sort of snort/sniff as she started to deliberately make noise with the pots and utensils, which she would deny if asked about it. She watched him with mild interest as he shuffled over to the opening in the wall and leaned his weight onto his folded forearms resting on the sill of the opening.

"Did you really have to make that much noise?" he winced as he rubbed his head, "Now I have a headache…"

"Oh, suck it up," Reina rolled her eyes at him as she filled a pot with water and then set it down on the stove with a loud thunk.

"I'm going to sneeze on you and get you sick," he threatened as he hung his head.

She just stared at him for a moment before she hit him on the head with the wooden spoon she was using.

"Don't let you snot drip into the soup," she ordered as she went back to stirring the noodles that were just beginning to boil. "You won't get better that way and then I'll be stuck here forever."

* * *

Translations:

piernas: (slang) twit


	18. Pay Day

"What do you mean you're not paying me the full amount?" Reina growled dangerously as she placed her palms flat on the smooth top of a desk.

"It's just that in light of recent events," the man sitting behind the furniture spluttered; he did not feel that the furniture would be enough to protect him from her wrath. "My boss doesn't feel that he should…"

"Then perhaps your boss," she made sure to pour extra venom into the two words, "would like to do his own dirty work from now on."

The man began to sweat as he shifted in his once comfortable chair.

"Perhaps we could come to a, ah, compromise?" he gulped as he pressed the panic button on the underside of the desk discretely and desperately.

"Okay, how about this," Reina smirked as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him up into a half-seated half-standing pose. "You pay me what you said you would or I'll take what you're trying to scam me out of in blood… from you."

The man gulped as he began to press the button with even more vigor, not even caring if she noticed or not. A grateful sigh left his lips when through the door of the small office two burly men came lumbering through. Reina rolled her eyes behind her large sunglasses as she thrust the man back into the chair, which he promptly fell out of onto the cement floor. She rolled her shoulders as she turned around to face the two men, muttering angrily to herself.

The men were clearly not impressed with her as they started to chuckle. The clerk tried to shrink behind the desk, wishing that the floor would just swallow him and save him from the torment that was sure to come for calling in back up for this scrawny girl. Reina just walked up to the closest on and socked him on the jaw with a left hook that sent him stumbling to the side before turning to the other and driving her heel into his knee, crushing his kneecap. She thrust her knee into his face as he crumple to the ground before turning back around to the clerk.

"On second thought, I'll take everything you have in that safe," she said as she cracked her knuckles.

The clerk gulped and tried to fit himself completely under the desk as she drew closer and closer with sinister footsteps. When she was about a meter away from her target the man she had punched grabbed her around the shoulders and lifted her into the air. Reina clicked her tongue in annoyance as she jerked her head back and caught the man on the chin, making him stumble back a bit. She lurched forward in his grip and threw him off balance before throwing all her weight back and to one side, causing him to sway in that direction, which happened to be right into a rusty pipe sticking out of the ceiling. A hollow note echoed around the small office when the man's head hit metal and Reina dropped to the ground gracefully as the man slumped to the ground.

She didn't even need to ask as the clerk handed her a large wad of bills with shaky hands which she accepted with a sugary smile.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

* * *

"Now remember Yoshiro," Reina started in a patronizing tone as she stood in the doorway of the man's apartment, "don't go licking any more doorknobs, okay? That's how you get sick."

"Tch, go back to Namimori, you pest," the dark haired man grunted as he leaned on the door. "I don't even know why you were here in the first place."

"Ha! Okay then," she grinned as she started to walk down the hallway. "I'll remember that the next time you ask me to do anything for you."

"Yeah, whatever," he scoffed as he shut the door with a small smile on his face.

* * *

"Eto… Reborn," Tsuna started nervously as he stole glances down the street. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is, Dame-Tsuna," the baby said as he picked the lock of Reina's front door.

"But she just asked me to get her mail, and not read it," he added the last part as he remembered how Reborn had greedily ripped open the envelopes addressed to his neighbor.

"I already told you," the infant sighed, "I had to open them to make sure that there were no chemicals in them."

"And I trust there weren't," Reina's voice came out in a tired growl.

"Hiie! Soto-san!" Tsuna squeaked, "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Well that's a relief," she rolled her eyes as she fished her keys out of her bag, "because for a second there it looked like you were trying to break into my house…" she trailed off with a pointed look at Reborn.

"We just wanted to make sure that you didn't have any plants that needed to be watered," the hit-man stated as he jumped off of the step ladder he had been using that was beginning to transform back into a chameleon.

"Uh huh," she said skeptically, "and I was in Tokyo to have tea with the Emperor."

Tsuna winced slightly at the blatant disbelief in her voice. He felt ashamed for some reason, like he had let her down by not standing up to Reborn. He quickly brushed it off as the usual disgust he had for his spineless self.

"You can bring by my mail later when you've finished decontaminating it," she said as she unlocked her door. "Just Atún please, I've dealt with enough babies this weekend."

Tsuna gulped as the door closed behind her. Him, alone with her? He could feel Reborn's beady eyes upon him as he slowly trudged back to his house. It would be a miracle if he got out of this alive.

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna


	19. Happy Birthday

Reina sat with her feet propped up on her kitchen table flipping through the stack of open envelopes her neighbor had dropped off with a bored expression. She paused for a moment to take a drink from her steaming cup of green tea as she skimmed over a statement from a travel agency. She let out a frustrated growl as she set her cup down and got to her feet.

_Typical bastard_, she thought angrily as she yanked open a drawer in search for a lighter.

When she found the plastic cylinder she ran her thumb over the spark wheel, held one corner of the letter to the flame and watched it catch. She held the burning paper for a moment before dropping into the trashcan. She calmly walked back to the table and sat down like nothing had happened, flipping through the last of the envelopes before throwing them into the smoldering trashcan. Not that it mattered, that damn baby probably had all of the information written down somewhere to use as blackmail later.

She watched the second hand on her clock tick away the time as she finished her tea with a pensive look. She had been set back substantially by the now flaming stack of bills, how would she meet the deadline in time? Her eyes drifted over to the calendar hanging near the clock. It was a few years old, but it triggered the same information in her mind.

There were maybe two weeks left of the summer session, so that income would be gone soon. The end of the summer session heralded something else as well, something that made her smile. The Association would be contacting her soon with jobs, and then she would be back on track to accomplishing her goal.

Her eyes flick back to the clock; 10:30, she should probably get some sleep. She sighed heavily at the thought of going to her summer job in the morning as she placed her cup in the sink.

_At least it's only two more weeks_; she tried to cheer herself up as she drifted up the stairs where her bed waited, soft and inviting.

* * *

Reina walked slowly down the hallway with a stack of papers held loosely in her arms, looking around suspiciously every few moments. Something just felt off about today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She pretended to not notice the conspiratory glances that the students had been sending each other when they thought that she wasn't looking, and then Masako had sent her on an errand; it was all very suspicious. She paused outside of the classroom door as she shifted the papers in her arms so she could use them as a distraction if needed and then opened the door slowly.

"Otanjōbiomedetōgozaimasu Soto-san!" the class chorused when she stepped into the classroom

"¡Ay Dios Mio!" she yelped at their exclamation, jumping back a bit and dropping the papers. "What's this?" she panted with a hand over her racing heart, trying to calm it down.

"It's your birthday," one of the girls said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"We wanted to say thank you," one of the boys said as he handed her a piece of cake. "You know," he continued with a slight blush, "for helping us with our grades…"

"Oh," she blinked, "thank you," she said softly as she accepted the cake. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before," she admitted as she stared down at the pink and white icing.

"Ha ha, I'm sure that's not true!" Yamamoto laughed cheerily, "I bet your parents have thrown you a birthday party before."

"Yeah, once," she murmured to herself with a sad half-smile.

The chatter from the students faded away and instead she heard the steady wash of waves on a beach. She could smell the salt in the air and feel the sun one her face. She didn't even try to fight the memory as it took hold of her senses and closed her eyes.

_Everything was tinted in gold thanks to the setting sun glistening over the water. Small puffs of sand lifted off the ground as she ran shrieking with laughter. Chasing right after her was a man with a large smile on his face, and that's it, that was all she could remember._

"_Ha ha, gotcha!" the man laughed as he lifted her up into the air and spun her around._

_She could only giggle as the man placed a tickling kiss on her cheek before having her sit on his shoulders. From this higher position she could see a picnic table not far away with a woman and a little boy watching them, smiling as they got closer._

"_And now, your highnesses," the man grunted as he sat Reina down on the bench next to the boy, "your cake!"_

* * *

Reina sat on the building's roof perched on top of an air conditioning unit, just watching the cars pass by on the street. Her cake from earlier sat untouched next to her folded legs, almost blindingly bright in the mid July sun. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if she had propped the door open; if she hadn't then she would be stuck on the roof until probably the next day.

_Oh well_, she sighed, _not like I have plans tonight anyways._

She glanced down at the small square of cake for a moment before picking up the fork and prodding it gently. She heard the door open behind her – so she hadn't propped it open after all – but she ignored it as she took a small bite of the pastry. She savored the sweetness for a moment before swallowing and getting another fork-full.

"Herbivore," an all too familiar voice growled from behind her.

"Oh hey," she smiled as she turned to face the prefect, "do you want some cake?" she asked, holding up the small plate in her hands.

The teen's steely eyes just stared at her for a long moment, and she took that to mean "No". She shrugged at this as she turned back around to watch the traffic trickle by. It was quiet for a long moment between them before the prefect spoke again.

"Staying after hours is not permitted," he said, sounding much closer than he had earlier.

"Hm?" she looked over at him, slightly confused by what he said. "Are you kicking me out?" she asked with a wry smile.

The prefect's stare told her that her assumption was indeed correct.

"Like you're one to talk," she scoffed as she looked back out at the street. "Aren't you parents waiting for you or something?"

The sound of footsteps drew her attention back to the prefect that was advancing towards her. Soon he was standing next to her, glaring down at her. She returned his glare out of habit as she looked up slightly to meet his gaze. The way the light caught in his eyes made her flinch mentally, though he would only be able to tell if he was looking closely in her eyes.

"Whatever," she grunted as she broke away from his gaze and jumped off her seat. "I was done here anyways."

* * *

Translations:

¡Ay Dios Mio! - Oh my God!


	20. Alien Abduction?

Reina panted a bit as she wiped her brow with the back of her hand, surveying her handiwork. About an hour ago the tiny yard had been a myriad of weeds with a tall tree growing in one corner, now it looked as pristine as any of the other lawns on the street. She enjoyed a faint, cool breeze before the air settled again; a promise of a hot and stuffy August. She began to push the small lawn mower back to the garage with thoughts of something cold in her mind.

The summer session had come to an end a few days earlier, leaving Reina jobless for the time being; but school was due to start up again before the end of the month, hopefully opening up some part time jobs. Not that she minded the free time; it would be hard to come by in the coming weeks so she viewed it as a sort of calm before the proverbial storm. She would use these few peaceful moments to take care of the little things like landscaping, doing the laundry, sleeping, etc.

"Oh no!" a voice from the street that had been filled with children's voices moments ago caught her attention. "The ball's stuck in that tree, how're we going to get it back?"

Reina spared a glance over at the tree thriving in her yard and saw that there was a red ball perched in one of the higher branches hanging over the alley way that separated the side of her house and the Sawadas'.

"I got it," she called out, jogging over to the tree and beginning to climb it like she had so many times before.

She paused when she had reached the branch to look down at the kids in the street. There were the three kids staying with the Sawadas staring up at her as she reached for the ball. Their eyes lit up when the red orb rested in her hand.

"Look out below!" she said jokingly as she dropped the ball down on the waiting trio.

There was a collective gasp of delight when the sphere bounced on the pavement and Reina couldn't help but smile at the children's delight as she began to climb down.

"Thank you very much!" the oldest little boy, Fuuta, said and the Chinese girl said the same thing in her native language.

"De nada," Reina said as she hung for a moment from the lowest branch hanging over the street before dropping down to the asphalt, landing lightly on her feet.

"Play with us!" the small boy wearing cow print demanded, immediately latching onto her leg.

"Yes, please?" the Chinese girl asked.

"Sure," Reina shrugged, not like she had any other plans for the day.

"Yay!" the three cheered in unison, and Reina had to smile again.

* * *

Tsuna was surprisingly happy as he walked home after spending the day with Gokudera and Yamamoto; this was the first relaxed day he could remember having since Reborn came and turned his world upside down and he had thoroughly enjoyed it. They hadn't really done anything, just hung out and played video games the whole day.

"I'm home!" he called out as he opened the door and had to wince at the noise coming from inside his house; why was it so loud?

"Ah, welcome back Tsu-kun!" his mother greeted him as she stuck her head out of the kitchen. "How was your day?"

Just as he was about to respond footsteps came thundering down the stairs, Lambo's obnoxious laugh rising above the din.

"Gyahahahaha! You'll never catch me!" the boy declared as he skipped the last step.

Fuuta soon came running down after him with a wide grin. Tsuna thought that was the end of it until the next person came down the stairs. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw his neighbor chasing after the two boys with… I-pin sitting on her shoulders? What?

For a moment he thought that Hell itself had frozen over, but that moment ended quickly when Reina picked Fuuta up with one arm and Lambo in the other, dangling the small boy in the air by the tail sewn on to the back of his onesie. He was still surprised to find her in his house though, and playing with the kids no less! Perhaps it was just a little chilly in the underworld…

"Hey, Sawada-san," she started with a breathless laugh, "I got a little cow, can we have hamburgers for dinner?" she asked, holding the laughing Lambo up a little bit more. "I'm sorry, it's a broccoli monster," she corrected herself after a few Chinese words from I-pin, "maybe we could cover him with cheese or something…"

His mother laughed at the obvious joke, but Tsuna paled a bit. He could vividly imagine her cooking Lambo up and eating him for a snack.

"That depends," his mother laughed, "are you staying for dinner?"

"Nah, I don't think so," she said, shaking her head as she carefully placed Fuuta back on his feet. "I'm expecting a call so I have to be home for that."

Tsuna let out a soft sigh of relief at this, this new side of his neighbor scared him more than the one he was used to…

I-pin said something in Chinese that made Reina laugh as she helped the small girl off her shoulders. He didn't know why he was surprised when she replied in Chinese – he knew she had spent a few years in China after all – but it still came as a shock to him. He felt reassured about the state of the universe when his neighbor just released Lambo's tail, dumping him unceremoniously on to the floor boards.

"Oh, okay," his mother seemed a bit disappointed. "Thank you for watching the kids today for me, I was able to get so much done!"

"Ha ha, no problemo," the brunette teen smiled as she waved goodbye. "See you around!"

He nearly fell over when she smiled warmly at him as she passed by. Had aliens abducted the real Reina and replaced her with a nicer imposter? This couldn't possibly last very long, the aliens would return the real Reina soon because she was so mean and scary.

* * *

Reina lay on the couch dozing lightly with her phone resting on her chest, the silver device rising and falling with her chest as she breathed. The outdated phone began to buzz in its place, but before it could complete one set of buzzes she had snatched it up and opened it. She didn't say anything as she pressed the speaker against her ear, her eyes still closed. A few words from the other side she opened her eyes and sat up.

She said a few, quick words of confirmation before hanging up; a wild grin taking up most of her face. She jumped up from the couch and fairly flew up the stairs to her room. She got a job, and though she wouldn't tell anyone, she would've done this one for free if needed.

* * *

Translations:

De nada - You're welcome


	21. Apology

Reina sat moodily looking out the small airplane window, refusing to look at the man seated across from her.

"Are you really going to ignore me the whole time?" he asked with an amused smirk.

_Yes_, she answered mentally.

"Oh well," he sighed, reclining into the plush leather seat. "It's a long way to Germany; you'll have to talk eventually."

_No I won't_, she retorted with a slight frown.

The angry silence was broken by the sound of heels on the carpet. The man turned his blonde head towards the new comer, but Reina kept her eyes trained out the window. A woman cleared her throat, trying to get her to look; but failed.

"Don't try," the man said; Reina could hear him rolling his eyes. "She's not going to talk any time soon."

"Not to him I'm not," she corrected, fixing her eyes on the woman standing next to her seat. "I'll talk to you, though."

"Good to know," the woman drawled, crossing her arms. "Any particular reason as to why?"

"No, none that I can think of," the man answered quickly.

Reina narrowed her eyes behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses before turning back to look out the window. There was a reason, but she wouldn't tell. If he couldn't remember then he didn't deserve to be forgiven!

"Well, she's going to have to get over it," the woman said, "because you two will be working together."

Reina snapped her head to the side so she could give a proper incredulous stare to the woman, though it was not like she could see it.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Well, the last time I checked you didn't speak German," the woman fixed her with a look of her own.

"Psh, you don't know me," Reina muttered under her breath as she crossed her arms and turned back to the window.

"That's what you think," the blonde man whispered into her ear, leaning in close.

Reina frowned and slapped him away, resisting the urge to snap at him.

"Yes, well," the woman sniffed as she pulled two manila folders from her brief case. "I know you're well acquainted with the target, La Reina," the man glanced at her quickly but the woman cut off any comments he might have made, "but Mr. Pelletier isn't, so I want you to tell him everything you know about him."

"Don't argue," the woman cut Reina off when she opened her mouth to protest. "The basics are in the files, but there's more than what's been documented."

"And that's where our Espangnol a Augmenté comes in," the man said, eyeing Reina as he accepted a folder from the woman.

"Dōngxi tā quánmiàn de yănjīng," Reina muttered as she glared out of the window, watching as the runway began to flit by.

"Yes," the woman nodded with a knowing smile, "you better apologize quickly Mr. Pelletier, it's a long way to Germany."

* * *

Guy Pelletier was confused in more ways than one. The most prominent being what the girl sitting across from him had to do with the man he was reading about. From what he could tell there was nothing to connect the two in any remote way. La Reina would never associate with the likes of the man on the paper; he was the kind of person she would turn in just as soon as look at him. Maybe that was it, he mused, perhaps he was a target that got away.

That had to be it! Why else would she be so angry? Other than the fact that she always seemed to be angry around him lately…

"Will you please tell me what I did wrong so I can apologize and we can move on with our lives?" he groaned, rubbing his temples tiredly.

"No," she said, staring out at the passing clouds.

"Then will you tell me what I need to know?" he asked with a sigh.

"No."

"What if I give you my cut?" he tried to bribe her.

"No."

"Oh, come on!" he growled in frustration; she was annoyingly secretive in the best of moods, but now she was just plain insufferable.

He looked back down at the file in his lap, trying to glean any information possible from the papers. Soto, Hitoshi: scumbag number one. Wanted for manslaughter in multiple countries; the selling of secrets, both government and mafia alike; the list went on. He lazily scanned the list of countries that had set a price on this man's head and a light bulb turned on in Guy's mind.

"Is this because of what happened in Columbia?" he asked, looking up at the brunette. He took her silence to mean "Yes" and carried on. "I'm sorry I pushed you out of the plane without warning you first," he sighed, not quite believing he was saying this. "But for the record you did have a parachute and we were going to crash into the jungle."

He could feel the Secretary's amused look on him as he waited tensely for a response. How this woman was able to make him feel like he had done some great wrong by saving her life was beyond him. Actually, how this woman was able to make him feel anything was beyond him.

"He's also a thief," she said so softly that he almost missed it. "He steals children away from their families and then throws them to the dogs not three years later."

Guy heard the roughness in her voice and decided not to press it. He could guess which child Soto had kidnapped and then abandoned. Instead he studied her closely. She had short, straight brown hair today, though he couldn't tell if it was a wig like she usually wore. He decided that he liked the way that it settled against the lightly tanned skin of her neck which turned into the gentle slope of her shoulders that seemed to beckon to him. He tore his gaze away before his thoughts could take him anywhere else and stared out the small window with more concentration than necessary.

* * *

A few seats away the Secretary watched the two with interest. Two of the best that the Association had to offer; and one of them was a freelancer. A wry smile crossed the woman's face at that thought. Yes, La Reina was a wild card; unpredictable at best. Who knew where her loyalties lay? If she was smart they didn't lie anywhere near the people she worked with, but perhaps they would shift after this job was completed. They did, after all, have it on good faith that this was the job that La Reina had been waiting for her entire career, and good faith didn't come cheap.

* * *

Translations:

Espangnol a Augmenté - (French) Spanish Rose

Dōngxi tā quánmiàn de yănjīng - (Chinese) Stuff if round eye


	22. Destination Unknown

Reina watched out the window as the ground slowly rose up to meet the plane as the pilot started the final approach. She was getting closer and closer to her goal, but would she be able to follow through with it? A million different scenarios played through her mind where she would fail, but she knew she wouldn't. She had been waiting too long for this moment, the moment when she would be free. The moment when she could do as she pleased.

Behind her dark glasses her eyes shifted so she could watch the two other people in the cabin. She didn't trust them, not in the least. Through her experiences she had learned that everyone had an agenda, and these people were no exception.

"La Reina," the suit clad woman said, breaking her from her thoughts.

Reina turned her head to show that she was listening to her and waited patiently for her to continue.

"Keep in mind that Soto is wanted _alive_," the Secretary informed her with a sharp look

_Hmph, I don't see why_, she kept that comment to herself and just nodded silently

"Good," the woman nodded before turning on her heel and walking back to her seat near the back.

Reina shifted a bit and propped her feet up on the empty chair across from her before she resumed looking out the window. Guy had gone to the cockpit for some reason or another, leaving just her and the Secretary in the cabin. Needless to say that it was a bit more than uncomfortable for her, she could feel the woman's silver eyes on her, watching her closely. She pretended not to notice as the plane bounced, signaling that they had landed. A slight frown crossed her face as she inspected the landscape visible under the bright blue sky outside.

"This isn't Germany," she stated, turning to look at the woman behind her.

"Correct," the woman acknowledged with a nod, "there were a few last minute changes."

Reina's frown didn't go away as she turned back to the window and stared out. She recognized the landscape as Spain, and if Soto was here then that meant…

_He knows._

* * *

Soto Hitoshi stretched out on an old couch in an equally old apartment. Not his usual accommodations for sure, but he felt this was a special case. He closed his eyes as he thought back to the last time he was in Spain. About ten years ago, that's how long it had been. How was his old target doing? He hadn't heard much about him, just that he was milling around Europe with his son.

_Shame he could never find his daughter_, Hitoshi thought with a smirk.

* * *

"This will be our base of operations," the Secretary said as she led Reina through the door to a luxurious hotel room.

Reina looked around with an uninterested expression watching the handful of people setting up computer equipment. There was nothing to make these people stand out, except that all were dressed in suits and looked like they would fit well into any office setting.

"La Reina," the Secretary caught her attention, causing her to draw her gaze away from the people. "This way," she said, gesturing through an open door.

Reina entered the new room and swept it with her eyes as she took a seat in a white leather arm chair. On one wall was a blown up map of Madrid with certain areas circled in red, another had large windows opening out onto a grand view of the city, and the rest were painted wine-red with paintings hanging on them. The door clicked shut behind her and the people setting up in the other room faded into a barely audible whisper.

"What's the story this time?" she asked as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Business trip?"

"Business retreat, actually," the Secretary sniffed as she poured herself a glass of wine.

"Hn," Reina grunted as her eyes were drawn back to the map. "Where's Guy?" she asked without looking away from the red circles.

"He's following up on a few leads," the woman said as she sipped her drink. "Soto has been spotted in different parts of the city so it is unknown where he is staying."

Reina remained quiet still staring at the map even when she heard the Secretary sifting through something and then walk over to her.

"We've narrowed it down to a few places and now we want you to join him," the woman said holding out an ear bud and small microphone.

"Of course," Reina smiled as she accepted the equipment, "wouldn't want to miss out on the fun, now would we?"

* * *

"Turn left up ahead," the Secretary's voice instructed in Reina's ear as she walked down the street.

The brunette youth turned right instead, ignoring the directions; she knew exactly where she would find Soto. Instead of towards the fancy hotels she headed towards one of the poorer parts of the city. She knew the man well enough to know that he would get a room at a big hotel and then end up staying at some seedy apartment complex, the kind of place where you pay by the month in cash.

"La Reina, where are you going?" the angry woman's voice demanded.

Instead of responding Reina only dug the ear bud out of her ear and tossed it into a nearby open dumpster. She didn't need someone squawking in her ear demanding answers; besides, the tracking device in the mic hidden in the pocket of her white dress shirt should be enough. The sun was starting to disappear behind the buildings so for now she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, confident that no one would recognize her here. Her brown eyes shone with a purpose and the dying light of the sun, causing some to stop and stare, but she didn't care, she had a job to do.


	23. A Change

The clicking of Reina's heels echoed all around her as she strode purposefully down the almost empty street. It was clear that even the locals knew better than to stray near this place unless absolutely necessary. She was well aware of the eyes peeking out from behind closed curtains and barely opened doorways, watching and waiting; waiting to see what would happen to this well-dressed stranger. The eyes didn't have to wait long before three men filed out of an alleyway and trailed behind her.

"Hola, Mamí," one of the men breathed heavily when he had gotten close enough that Reina could smell the alcohol radiating from him.

She remained silent and kept her eyes set forward, not sparing the man even a fraction of a glance.

"¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?" a second man hummed as he pulled up on her other side.

"¿Buscando tal vez nos?" she could hear the warped smile in the third's voice and she had to suppress a shudder as a roughly trunk-sized arm wrapped around her middle.

The words hadn't even faded from the air when Reina slammed the heel of her stiletto into the man's foot, causing him to roar with pain and release her. With her heel of her shoe still firmly planted in the man's foot she rammed her elbow into his diaphragm, sending him doubled over to one knee.

"¡Puta!" one of the other two hissed as he flipped open a concealed switch blade.

Before the man had the chance to stab at her she spun on her planted foot – twisting her heel painfully deeper into the first man's foot – and kicked the blade out of his hand. The kick was immediately followed by a right hook that utilized the momentum from her spin. Reina heard the last man start to charge her from behind so she turned quickly – again driving the thin heel deeper – and thrust the heel of her palm up into the man's nose. The blood started flowing almost immediately as the man stumbled back clutching his face and Reina finally removed her heel from the first man's foot, earning a strangled gasp of pain from him.

She started walking calmly away, dusting off the sleeves of her black blazer nonchalantly. A small frown crossed her features when she noted that there was some blood staining the smooth black fabric of her jacket. Without a second thought she shed the article of clothing and tossed it onto a nearby pile of trash as she continued on her way.

* * *

The Secretary was not a happy woman as she stood tall and intimidating before a large screen in the hotel room. Around her various underlings scurried about, doing their best to stay out of the way of the glare she was sending towards the blinking red dot displayed on the map. She listened carefully to everything that came in over the audio feed, searching for a hint as to where said dot was going.

"Should I follow her, Ms. Secretary?" a sandy-blonde man asked at her side; his gaze was trained on the dot as well, but it lacked the venom that the woman's was filled with.

"Yes," she said after a pause, "take a car. I'll have the tracker's coordinates synced with the onboard navigation."

The man nodded curtly before leaving the woman to glare at the screen in relative solitude. Before he left the room Guy paused and watched the underlings for a moment. Some were sitting at computers typing at keyboards and others were currying papers back and forth between different stations, but one man in particular caught his attention. He was wearing a nondescript suit and sat in a semi-isolated corner of the room, but the part that interested Guy the most was the fact that he was stealing furtive glances at the map screen.

He made a mental note to keep tabs on that man when he returned as he slipped quietly out of the room.

* * *

Reina strode purposefully up the rickety steps of the apartment complex, her hand barely trailing over the railing. Yes, this was the place. It had been circled on the map, but it was clear that nobody thought to check it since it seemed so unlikely. She even already knew what apartment number he would be in.

_So predictable_, she sighed internally as she turned the doorknob.

The sight that greeted her was one that she expected. The cramped living room floor plan was dominated by a sagging couch with more than a few cigarette burns and the brown carpet was littered with dust bunnies. The only thing that was out of place was the laptop humming away on the scratched coffee table.

"Ah, so you came," Hitoshi noted as he entered the space wiping his hands.

"Was there ever a doubt?" she scoffed as she let the door close behind her.

"Hm, of course not," he smirked as he held up his hands in a sign of surrender. "You can take me away now."

"No, I can't," Reina said as she calmly pulled a revolver from the small of her back where it had been tucked.

"You won't shoot," he challenged, but she could tell from the slight widening of his eyes he was nervous, "I'm wanted alive, not dead."

"You act like that makes a difference to me," she said as she took measured steps towards her target.

"You won't get your money if you shoot," Hitoshi tried to reason.

"I won't need the money if I shoot," she counted as she leveled the barrel with his head.

"Then why don't you?" he gulped slightly.

"Because I wanted the last thing you saw to be the killer you've created," she said as she started to squeeze the trigger, "and now that you have-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by the door slamming open and another person rushing in. Hitoshi's head snapped towards the door so he could properly view his momentary savior while Reina kept her gun and gaze trained on the aging man before her. She knew who it was; she just thought he would've gotten there later.

"Guy," she greeted in a flat voice.

"Don't do this," the blonde man ordered as he closed the door and moved closer to her. "You know it's wrong."

"No more so than what's been done to me."

"La Reina," Guy said in a softer voice as he placed a hand on one of her arms and applied a gentle pressure. "Death's too good for him and you know it."

Reina remained silent at this, but allowed him to push her arms and the gun down. He took this as a sign that she agreed with him for now, so Guy decided to use this opportunity to call in back up. Still keeping one hand on her arm he raised his hand to his ear and pressed the mic button on his ear piece.

"I have them both," he said as he eyed the man he had just saved for at least a few more minutes. "Requesting pick up."

"Hmph, just a few words and you obey," Hitoshi scoffed, "they sure have you trained well."

"Sir, I suggest you don't taunt her," Guy advised as his hand gripped Reina's tense arm.

"Why? She's no different than her father; weak willed," the middle aged man declared having found his confidence now that his life wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Sir," Guy trailed off as he eyed Reina, trying to gauge her reaction.

She didn't say anything; which was possibly the most disturbing part. Instead she calmly removed her arm from Guy's grip, adjusted her grip on the gun so that she was holding the barrel, and walked up to Hitoshi. She looked his straight in his silver eyes for a long moment before swinging the handle of the gun in a high arch and catching him along the jaw with a solid crack, sending him staggering back about half a meter.

"Understand this," she said in a low voice, "the only reason you had enough breath to make that claim was because I respect **him** more than I respect _you_."

Before any other words could be said heavy footsteps were heard on the landing outside and Reina took a step back, tucking the gun back into the waistband of her pants. The door burst open once again to admit a string of five suited men bearing pistols who surrounded Hitoshi. As he was being handcuffed his gaze never left Reina, and she met his metallic eyes without flinching she would note later. A sign perhaps, but of what she didn't know.

* * *

Translations:

Hola, Mamí - Hey Baby

¿Qué estás haciendo aquí? - What're you doing here?

¿Buscando tal vez nos? - Looking for us perhaps?

¡Puta! - Bitch!


	24. Standard Protocol

"So what are you going to do with him?" Guy asked as he watched the video feed with mild interest.

"The usual," the Secretary answered vaguely as she glanced up at the television screen from the forms she was filling out. "He may have information that might prove useful."

_They always do_, Reina thought bitterly as she stood by the door silently.

Her eyes didn't move from the screen as the lower level operatives shuffled around her trying to stay out of her line of sight. There was one though that was watching her as closely as she was watching the video, she noted. She also noted that he was shifting in his seat like he was preparing to do something. She watched the man as he stood up and began to walk towards the door she was stationed next to, and for a split second her eyes me his. The man immediately averted his gaze and shuffled through the door.

* * *

Hitoshi sat calmly in the lush hotel room he had been shoved into and stared directly at the concealed camera he knew was there. He knew what was going to happen now; the only question that left was when it would happen. The masterminds behind it all had told him to just relax and to let things happen; his only real job was to flush out the prey, someone else would be playing the predator today.

He turned his head slightly when a soft knock echoed around the small room.

* * *

Reina was thankful that her shoes didn't make much noise on the plush carpet of the hallway was she followed the man. She crouched down behind a decorative table when he stopped and did a visual sweep of the hall before knocking on a door. Her eyes narrowed at this; he was knocking on the door to the room that Soto was being held in.

In her mind she went through a list of options she had at the moment. She could stay where she was and see what unfolded, she could stop the man and whatever plan he was a part of, or she could alert the Association to what was happening and hope for the best. Or she could combine all three.

She opted to combine her options when the man entered the room.

Without a second thought she grabbed ahold of the table she was using as cover and brought it crashing down to the ground. She figured that should be enough of a commotion to stir the Secretary out of whatever paperwork-frenzy she had worked herself into. Reina stayed close to the ground as she made her way over to the door and stood before slamming opening it.

* * *

Hitoshi wasn't sure which was more surprising for him, the man in a suit telling him to follow him without question or that girl slamming open the door right as they were about to leave. He was willing to bet, though, that for the man that girl was the most surprising part. And he was also willing to bet that girl wasn't confronting them alone.

"Is this a part of your plan?" Hitoshi asked the man in mild amusement at the stricken look on his face.

The man only swallowed thickly as he pulled out a knife and brandished it half-heartedly. That girl rolled her eyes at him and easily knocked the blade out of his hand. The man let the weapon fall to the ground as he spun around to her back and pulled the pistol from her waistband.

"Run, sir!" the man yelled as he pointed the gun at that girl.

Hitoshi needed no second prompting and bolted out of the open doorway.

* * *

Guy trotted down the hallway towards the sound of the crash with three suited agents behind him. All had guns drawn just in case as they came upon the downed table. He made a hand sign and the agents fanned out to sweep the hallway as he slowly advanced upon the door. He turned sharply with his gun eye level but dropped it as soon as he assessed the scene.

It was La Reina looking extremely angry standing over the groaning form of the man he had noticed earlier. He could tell that her aggravated gaze had now shifted to him when the chill ran down his spine

"What took you so long?" she practically seethed, taking a step towards him.

"We had to put the computers on lock-down and secure the hotel room before proceeding to the hallway," Guy explained, raising his palms in an attempt at a placating gesture. "It's standard protocol."

"Well your 'standard protocol'," she spat the two words out like they were a poison, "just let the target get away. Congratulations," she scoffed as she shoved her way past him and out the door.

* * *

The Secretary was not happy. Not that she was known for having a particularly sunny disposition, but right now her mood was considerably worse than usual. She had lost her greatest prospective agent – the one who would replace her should she retire. No, things were not going her way today.

"Where did we source him from?" she asked calmly, but her perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms betrayed her true feelings.

"A lesser mafia famiglia based locally," a nameless man in a suit gulped. "He was a last second addition."

"I told you only private security firms for this job," the Secretary's eyes narrowed a bit.

"Ah, yes… well, you see," the man stammered, "we were in a bit of a crunch and he came highly recommended by a private security firm…" he trailed off.

"I can see where you'd get confused, but that's not quite the same thing," Guy cut in, attempting to cut the poor man some slack.

"Hn, not quite indeed," the Secretary sneered before turning sharply on her heel and leaving.

"So," Guy started as he placed a hand on the already trembling man's shoulder, causing him to jump slightly, "tell me more about this lesser mafia famiglia."


	25. Speculation

Reina sat in the crowded airport just watching the people pass by. There was something calming about it, the rush of sound and colors that came with crowds. It helped her lose herself; at least for a moment. She glanced down at her ticket for her flight time; she still had a few hours to while away before takeoff.

"So, this is what you do after a job?" a man's voice mused in mild amusement, "I must admit, I thought you would be doing something much cooler than sitting in an airport…"

Reina shot an exasperated look from behind her dark glasses at the man reclining next to her.

"What do you want?" she snapped, tucking her ticket away quickly in the hopes that he hadn't seen the destination.

"Hey, no need to be like that," the blonde chided, "just wanted to give you a heads up, that's all."

"Well, get on with it, I have a flight to catch."

"Yeah, in three hours," Guy noted under his breath.

Reina got to her feet quickly with the intention of telling the nearest security officer that this man was a terrorist of some kind. It was as if he could read her intentions and he caught her wrist before she even took a step in any direction.

"Now, now," he said calmly as he pulled her back down into the seat, "let's be mature about this; no need to be drastic. There's no need to throw these nice people into a panic."

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, "who or what do I need to look out for? And while you're at it, let go of me."

"There's a local mafia famiglia looking for you, or at least someone like you," Guy started as he released her, but he kept his hand close to hers in case she tried to make another get away.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" she groaned, letting her head fall back against the seat cushion. "There's been someone looking for me for as long as you've known me, what makes these people any different?"

"Well, for one they somehow managed to infiltrate the Association."

"Yeah, nice job handling that by the way," Reina cut in snidely.

"And," Guy continued in a mildly irritated tone, "they've managed to fly under the radar for the past few years. Not just ours, but the governments' and even those of other famiglias."

"Why do I doubt that?"

"Believe whatever you want, but the fact remains: no one knows anything about these people other than the fact that you're number one on their list."

"Well, it's nice to know that someone wants me…"

"We want you," Guy said softly after a short pause. "The offer is still open, like it always has; all you need to do it accept it."

"You know I can't," Reina sighed just as softly.

"Can't or won't?" he probed, turning to look at her. "We both know that it's just your stubborn pride that's keeping you from saying yes, so shove that aside and do what's best for you! There's nothing for you wherever you're going; stay with us," he tried to reason.

"Oh yes, because you know me so well," she snorted as she stood up, signaling that the conversation was over. "Do me a favor and never contact me again; that's what's best for me!"

"We won't let you go so easily," Guy's voice floated over the din of the crowd.

Reina whirled around to give him a piece of her mind, but he had been lost in the sea of people.

* * *

Reina stood in the street staring at her house as the streetlights began to flicker on. Guy's words echoed in her mind, and she shook her head violently to clear her thoughts for a moment. The structure really needed some work, especially side that faced the Sawada's; it looked like there had been multiple explosions set against it. Maybe she should sell it after she fixed it up… It's not like she ever actually used it.

"What're you thinking about?" she didn't even flinch when Reborn asked the question, she had been aware of his presence for quite some time now.

"The future," she said distantly as she did a mental list of all the things that needed to be updated or fixed. "How much do you think I could get for this place?"

"¥32,000,000 if you fix it up," the infant answered, "but where would you live?"

"Dunno," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, "somewhere with work, but I'm just thinking aloud right now," she admitted with a wave of her hand, "Pure speculation is all."

"You could work for the Vongola," Reborn offered after a pregnant pause, "we're always looking for people of your caliber."

"I was kinda hoping for a different kind of work," Reina admitted softly with a wry smile. "Thanks for the offer though."

"Give it some thought," the Arcoballeno advised as she heard his small footsteps headed for the Sawada's. "Keep your options open."

* * *

That night Reina sat up in her bed just staring out the window. Things were starting to move fast for her, possibly too fast for her to keep up. If she were to try to drop off the map, where would she go? Operatives were everywhere. Maybe she would go back to China… but would they welcome her back? It had been so long, and if she remembered correctly, they weren't all that eager to accept her to begin with. She groaned loudly and let herself fall back onto her mattress. She closed her eyes tightly and prayed for sleep to take over and block out these thoughts.

* * *

"_You will look after her, yes?" a dark haired man asked the bald man in orange robes._

"_We do not usually accept females of any age," the bald man admitted, "Have you tried an orphanage?"_

"_Despite your claims to be shut off from the world, you must know that it is not safe for girls on the streets," the dark haired man accused. "To ask me to leave her at an orphanage for any length of time is like asking me to throw her to the dogs!"_

"_But she is not even one of us! How could you expect us to welcome her into our order?"_

"_I am not asking you to make her a nun, just let her stay on your grounds while I am away."_

"_I am truly sorry, but you ask too much," the bald man sighed as he began to close the heavy wooden gate. "I wish you luck in finding a home for her."_

_The thudding of the gate seemed to reverberate for forever and a day. The man sighed heavily as he turned away. He placed an apologetic hand on Reina's head and mussed her hair affectionately. Reina pushed his hand away and held it in her smaller one and squeezed it an attempt to reassure them both. The streets were not something that appealed to either of them._

"_Wait," the two turned back when the bald man called out to them. "We have an extra room she can stay in. You have done much for us in the past; it's the least we can do to begin to repay our debt to you, Fon."_


	26. The Thing

"Ah, Reina-chan!" Nana greeted the younger woman who was bringing her trash cans to the curb. "Did you go somewhere? I haven't seen you for the past few days."

"Yeah," Reina confirmed with a smile, "I went to go visit a… friend."

"Well, I know the kids missed you," the housewife said, "but it's good that you're maintaining old friendships."

"Yes," the brunette teen nodded distractedly. "Well, I have to go run errands; it was nice talking with you."

"Ah, well be careful," Nana cautioned, "a lot of students have been attacked lately; I would hate to see the same happen to you."

Coming from anyone else Reina would've sworn that was a threat, but she knew that Nana was much too kind-hearted for that.

* * *

Reina regretted her decision to fix up her house immensely. Especially when she decided to check the ceiling tiles; she never should have done that. Not only did she find a few toys on the roof she found a fair amount of scorched patches that surely wouldn't stand up to any amount of rain. Now it was the heat of the day – another mistake on her part – and she was cursing under the intense sun as she replaced the ceiling tiles.

"Fucking kids," she muttered as she fixed a tile into the roof with a nail gun. "Why do they even have explosives?"

She sighed deeply as she sat back on her heels to survey her handiwork. The roof had been repaired and would withstand any weather that the Universe may choose to throw at it. Reina's eyes began to drift away from the roof to the street down below as he mind too began to wander. Somewhere in her brain it dimly registered that there was a girl walking down the street while reading a book, but what really caught her attention was the… thing following her.

"What is that?" she frowned, squinting to see it better.

It wore a green uniform of some kind and looked human; gaunt features, no hair, beady eyes, pale skin, no nose and it looked like the mouth had been sewn shut. The closer that it came the more she could pick out about it, and the more she could pick out about it the more red flags went up in her mind. This thing was a killer, she could tell by its walk, and this girl was clueless, she could tell by her walk. Reina brought her nail gun up and took aim when she gauged that it was close enough. She waited a few moments before the thing raised a claw-like hand and she squeezed the trigger.

The pneumatic hiss that had become so familiar over the past hour sounded again and Reina watched in satisfaction as the thing clawed at its eye where the nail had hit instead of at the girl. She shot it again in the other eye and watched for a moment as it thrashed around blindly before taking a running leap off of the roof. She landed on the thing's shoulders and brought it down to the asphalt where she placed her hands on either side of its head and jerked; snapping its neck.

The girl continued on her way completely oblivious to what had just happened, which suited Reina just fine as she drug the limp body off the street and concealed it behind the privacy wall facing the street. From the branches of the tree that stood in the corner of her yard a small yellow bird took flight; disappearing into the sky.

* * *

Tsuna gaped like his namesake at what he had just seen on the projected screen. He never would've guessed that his neighbor was capable of that! Now his fear of her seemed to be a bit more concrete.

"Woah," Gokudera gasped.

"Isn't that your neighbor, Tsuna-kun?" Bianchi asked, "She's good…"

"What?" Birds squawked, "No! There's no way! Someone like that… just out of nowhere?! Where did she even come from?!"

"Do you honestly think that Tsuna didn't leave anyone behind just in case you tried something like this?" Reborn smirked.

"Reborn!" Tsuna squeaked, "What are you talking about?"

"Quiet, Dame-Tsuna!" the infant ordered, kicking his student in the jaw.

"Wow!" Gokudera exclaimed, "To think that Juudaime already has someone like that in his Famiglia! I must train even harder now to remain his right hand!"

"You really have nothing to worry about," Tsuna tried to discourage his friend. _Soto-san would never join in this madness!_

* * *

Reina sat back on her couch and closed her eyes for a long moment. The body from earlier had been… disposed of. If anyone found it she would personally congratulate them, that's how confident she was. She opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the ceiling; at least she would have if Reborn's face was obscuring her vision.

"Yes, baby?" she sighed, closing her eyes again. "What do you want?"

"You said that you would answer any of my questions," he said, and she could almost see the glint in his black eyes from behind her closed lids.

"I did say that," she confirmed, lacing her fingers and resting them on her upper abdomen.

"So why'd you do it?" Reborn asked.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," she started after a long pause. "I've done lots of things over the years."

"Why'd you save Haru?" he clarified.

"There was no one else to do it," she answered softly, her mind just beginning to drift off to sleep.

"You don't know that."

"That's how it looked from my point of view," she mumbled as she shifted onto her side. "Can we continue this later? I had sort of a long day…"

Reborn watched her for a while as her breathing became shallow and evened out, signaling that she was asleep. He glanced around the sparse living room before hopping off the couch and making is way over to the arm chair angled towards the couch where he made himself comfortable. He would wait here until morning to make sure that she didn't disappear into the night; nothing was going to stand between him and his answers.


	27. Haru Haru Interview: Dangerous Corner

Now, Reina had woken up to some strange things over the years, but this took the cake. When she cracked her eyes open to what she thought was the morning sun she was instead greeted by stage lights pointed at her.

"¿Qué?" she frowned as she held up a hand to shield her sensitive eyes so she could look around.

Either her living room had been transformed into a studio set, or someone had taken her and her couch down to the local television station. She would've preferred the first option, but what she really hoped for was that this was all a dream. A very, very strange dream.

"Ah! Soto-san's awake!" a girl's voice exclaimed cheerily; and Reina immediately disliked whoever this girl was.

"You have ten minutes to change my living room back before I call the police," Reina said darkly as she pressed her forearm against her eyes and rested her head back against the couch.

"Ah! Wait!" the girl flustered, "Let me explain! Reborn-chan said that you would be okay with it!"

"Look, sweetie," Reina sighed, turning to look at the girl. "I'm sure 'Reborn-chan' has said more than his fair share of false things in the time that you've known him," she said flatly; "this wasn't the first time and I can assure you that it won't be the last."

Now that she got a good look at the girl, Reina's brow furrowed slightly. Something about this girl; where had she seen her before?

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" she asked with a slight frown.

"Ah! That's right!" the girl blinked, "I'm Miura Haru!" she said, reaching out a hand to shake.

"Yeah, that's nice," Reina grunted as she shifted into a more comfortable position. "Now get out."

"Well, that's not nice…" Reina knew that squeaky voice; and she absolutely hated it right now.

"Neither is what you did to my living room, so we'll call it even."

"But we're doing an interview," Reborn countered, jumping onto her stomach. "We can't do an interview without a set!"

"Hah! Right," Reina scoffed. "Is that what you kids are calling it now-a-days?"

"Who're you calling a kid?" Reborn scowled at her, walking up to stare down into her eyes in what was supposed to be a menacing way.

Reina only stared blankly back at him. "Are you trying to intimidate me?" she deadpanned after a few seconds of holding his gaze. "Because it's not working; there are scarier things than a baby with a bad attitude."

"Oh really? Like what?" the Arcoballeno asked skeptically.

"Lots of things; your mother, for instance," she quipped, picking him up and dropping him over the side of the couch.

"Hey!" Haru snapped, "Be nice to Reborn-chan!"

"He started it," Reina muttered as she settled back into the cushions. "I don't remember agreeing to do an interview anyway; so you guys can buzz off."

"But you agreed to answer my questions," Reborn reminded her. "You never said how I had to ask them."

"Turn the camera off," she said after a moment, turning on her side to face the back of the couch.

* * *

"So, Soto-san," Haru started with a cheery smile. "How long have you been Tsuna's neighbor?"

"The total amount of time I have spent in this house is less than or equal to five years," Reina answered, still stretched out on her couch and trying her best to wish this all away.

"… So five years, then?" Haru frowned slightly in confusion.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

"Nana said that she moved in ten years ago," Reborn cut in before Haru wrote down the wrong information.

"Ah! Okay!" she nodded as she scribbled down notes enthusiastically. "Next question! How long have you known Tsuna?"

"I moved into this house a decade ago, we've met."

"Alright; what do you do for fun?"

"Jump off stuff," Reina answered with a straight face, referring to the highlight of the day before.

"Um, okay…" Haru said, jotting down her answers; she wasn't quite sure what to make of Tsuna's strange neighbor… "What's your family like?"

"Pass," Reina said flatly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Eh? What do you mean 'pass'?"

"You can't just pass on a question!" Reborn declared, jumping to his feet.

"Oh yeah? Watch me."

"Do you not want to talk about your family, Soto-san?" Haru asked innocently enough.

"Something like that," Reina confirmed, "and don't call me 'Soto-san'."

"Um, okay then… what would you rather be called?"

"Anything else, please."

"How does 'Idiot' sound to you?" Reborn tried her suggestion.

"How does 'Get out of my house' sound to you?" she countered, fixing him with a look.

"Fair enough; where did you live before you came here?" in infant moved on to a new subject.

"Europe."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Yeah, I guess I could…"

"Will you?"

"No, I don't think I will."

"What's the point of an interview if you won't even answer any of our questions?" Haru huffed, puffing her cheeks out and pouting.

"Yeah, just go along with it," Reborn agreed.

"Fine, I'll answer your stupid questions," Reina sighted roughly as she sat up abruptly. "I was adopted when I was five by an asshole, lived on the streets of China for about six months when I was eight, because that's what kids do; right? I got out of there when I was twelve and up until a few months ago I was anywhere and everywhere doing what I had to do to scrape together enough money so I could pretend to have a normal life, but we can see how well that plan worked," she finished, gesturing to her transformed living room.

"You know what? I'm done," she declared, standing up. "Interview's over."

* * *

Translations

Qué - What


	28. Strange Guns

Reina muttered angrily to herself as she walked down the dark alley, her footsteps sounded just as aggravated as the echoed off of the high brick walls. She had decided to take out her frustrations by going for a walk, but she wasn't above starting a fight if that plan didn't work. This brings us to now, in one of the seedier parts of Namimori; if it was even possible for the town to have a seedy part. She kicked a rusty can in an attempt to relieve some frustration, but only succeeded in chipping some old masonry when it ricocheted off a wall and knocked over a trashcan. The metal cylinder spilled trash out into her path, which only made her angrier.

"Fucking Baby!" she hissed as she lashed out at the trash. "Who the fuck does he think he is?" she demanded, slamming her foot into the now mostly empty trashcan and denting it severely.

"Wah!" the trashcan squealed as it skittered into a wall.

"The fuck?" Reina muttered, narrowing her eyes at the apparently talking waste receptacle.

"I was sleeping and then suddenly everything's sideways and scary!" a small figure sniffed as it emerged from the trashcan. "I must stay calm!"

Reina's expression grew incredulous when she recognized the figure as that little boy that stayed at the Sawada's. Lambo, wasn't it? What was he doing in a _trashcan_?

"Ah! It's my underling!" he brightened up when he noticed Reina standing a few meters away. "Play with me! Now!"

Her eye twitched slightly at the demand. "The Hell is wrong with you?" she asked rhetorically. "Why on Earth were you in a _trashcan_? Are you some kind of freak?"

The boy was taken aback for a moment before his eyes started to water. "Must stay calm," he started to chant as his lower lip quivered.

"Are you kidding me?" Reina scoffed, "You just crawled out of a bunch of trash, and you're worried about being calm?"

Actual tears started to roll down the boy's checks. His trembling hands reached up to his afro styled hair and he pulled out… a pink bazooka?

"And what do you plan to do with that?" she asked with a small amount of caution veiled with sarcasm.

The boy only bawled loudly as he pointed the barrel at his head.

"Tch, pendejo," she snorted as she started walking, pushing the butt of the weapon down when she passed him.

She heard the click of the trigger being pulled followed by the "whoosh" of the ordinance leaving the barrel, but she didn't think much of it until she felt the impact on her back. It didn't hurt like most would assume being shot by a bazooka would; at worst it knocked the breath from her lungs. This of course didn't help when she was enveloped by a cloud of smoke.

"The fuck, kid?" she managed to wheeze as she waved a hand to dissipate the smog. "The Hell kind of bazooka is that?"

She looked back expecting to find Lambo, but instead saw heaps of refuse piled upon uneven pavement. She recognized the architecture of the buildings around her as that of a shantytown; plywood sheets warped with age and smothered in graffiti formed the walls of the narrow alley. She squinted at the characters as she tried to make sense of them in her mind.

"This way!" a man's voice shouted in Chinese. "Around the corner!"

"Where is she?" another demanded. "When I get my hands on that wench! Oh, she'll wish she never crossed us!"

"What? Where'd she go?" a man dressed in a disheveled button up shirt with a tie hanging loosely around his neck

"Who cares? There's another, and I'd bet that she'll catch an even higher price than that bitch," a second declared, pointing at Reina.

Reina felt a chill run down her spine at the man's words. She didn't have to guess at who these men were or what they were up to. She knew, and despite all her training and experience she was scared. She had just been marked for a fate that she had feared ever since she learned of it.

* * *

Lambo wasn't sure what had gone wrong. He had meant to shoot himself with the ten year bazooka, but he was still in the present. Had he missed? He had pulled the trigger correctly, so maybe the barrel had jerked to one side…

His attention was drawn away from his ponderings by a hacking cough from behind him. He turned around, his curiosity making him instantly forget his tears. He watched for a moment as a person dressed in dark colors stumbled a bit as he or she tried to clear his or her lungs.

"¿Qué?" the person managed to say between coughs. "¿Qué está pasando?"

Lambo's face brightened a bit when he recognized the voice as a female's. Maybe she would be nice like Mama or Kyoko and Haru! Well, either way he didn't get the chance to find out since she took off down the alley way away from him.

"Hey!" he shouted after her, "Play with me!"

He started to follow her but stopped in his tracks when he heard a shuffling behind some nearby trashcans. He watched with wide eyes as an animal emerged from the shadows.

"Ah! Raccoon!"

* * *

Fear makes you do strange things, and terror can be damn near petrifying. Luckily for Reina she wasn't completely terrified so she still had some sort of control over her movements. She sprinted away from the men turning around random corners in an attempt to lose the two men, all while trying to make sense of what had happened. It all had to do with that kid's weapon, that was for sure; and somehow it had transported her to China…

Her train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when she skidded around a corner. There was a man standing directly in her path. Her breath came in shallow pants as panic flooded her mind. She had been caught, this was the end. She would be taken and sold into a loveless marriage from which the only escape was death.

Her eyes started at his shoes, they were black, high-quality Italian shoes. Then her gaze started to travel slowly up his black slacks to the black jacket and tie paired with a purple collared shirt. Finally her eyes flicked up to his face and her vision was obscured by a cloud of smoke.

Again Reina was thrown into a coughing fit as she waved a hand around to clear the offending air quickly, and her stinging eyes were greeted with a different sight. Instead of the well-dressed man it was…

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

* * *

Translations:

pendejo - stupid

¿Qué? - What?

¿Qué está pasando? - What's going on?


	29. Nagi

"Caiossu!" the infant chirped happily, it was as if the events of the morning hadn't happened.

"What're you doing here?" Reina demanded. "Better yet, how did I get here?" she amended her first question as she glanced around.

Somehow she was on the roof of the middle school as the sun as just beginning to descend from its zenith.

"You were shot with the Ten Year Bazooka," Reborn stated with a mysterious smirk. "Your future-self came here and we were talking.

"What were you talking about?" the brunet asked warily.

"Oh, nothing," the Arcoballeno's mysterious smirk turned mischievous, "she just said something about a meeting of some kind, and then you swapped places."

"Huh," Reina was relieved that he hadn't had much time to really ask any questions. "So I was in the future?" she asked with a slight frown; she highly doubted that the technology existed to make that happen.

"Yep, ten years," the baby confirmed with a nod, "How was it?"

"Disappointing," she sniffed, wiping some dirt from her palms. "Not a single sign of a jet pack or flying car."

"And here I was thinking you didn't have a sense of humor," Reborn gave a sort of amused snort as he jumped off the air conditioning unit he had been seated on. "I hope you're not late for your meeting."

"Me too?" Reina frowned in mild confusion; what was the proper response for that?

* * *

The day was slowly waning away; it seemed like the sun hadn't moved an inch since Reina encountered Reborn. She had resigned herself to sleeping in the cropped grass of her back yard, waiting for tomorrow to come; though what she would do tomorrow she had no idea. Maybe she could play some video games… but no, there were still some things that she needed to fix around her house. She groaned and rolled over onto her side, she did _not_ want to do any work today.

She dimly heard a car park in the street followed by a door slamming. Someone's having a guest, how lucky for that person. She bitterly reflected to herself on how she never had wanted visitors, and she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice when a set of footsteps padded through the grass, but she did notice when a pair of grey shoes stopped right in front her.

"Putting your free time to good use, I see," a man's voice drawled with just a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Tch, shouldn't you be studying or something?" she muttered, glaring up at the man looking down at her.

If she hadn't known better she would've sworn it was Soto, the two were almost identical; almost. It was his dark brown, almost black eyes that set him apart from his father

"What're you even doing here, Yoshiro? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Busy?" Yoshiro echoed with a scoff, "Doing what?"

"Tanning," Reina answered, settling back onto her back.

"In shorts and a t-shirt?"

"Yes, awkward tan lines are in this season. Trust me, I'm a girl."

"Well then," he chuckled, "I know better than to argue with that kind of expertise…"

"Damn straight," she grinned, "now move along, you're standing in my sun."

"Yes well," he sniffed slightly, "I can assure you that it'll be there tomorrow and for millions of years to come. I have more important things to talk to you about than your tan."

"What could possibly be more important than that?"

"Well, there's my graduation for one," he pointed out, "that's coming up in a few days."

"Oh yeah," Reina acted like she just remembered; "which one is this one? There's just been so many; I thought you were done with that phase by now."

"Well you know me," Yoshiro started as he stretched his arms above his head, "I just love to have extra letters after my name."

"And you know me," she said with a faux smile, "I just don't care."

"That's unfortunate to hear," he smiled back, "'cause you're going anyway."

"Hmm," Reina paused for a moment. "I'll have to move tea with the Queen, but I think I can squeeze you in."

"That's good to hear, because it's tomorrow."

"A bit short notice, don't you think?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"Well, I figured since you burn all your mail sometimes before you even read it sending an invitation would be pointless," Yoshiro shrugged. "Besides, I didn't want to miss the chance to see my darling little sister," he cooed, pinching her cheek.

"Don't call me that," she frowned, slapping his hand away. "I'm reasonably sure that's an insult in some cultures…"

* * *

About five minutes into the ceremony Reina had snuck out the back. She wasn't much for formal things, so she figured she would just wait outside until it was over. After standing around for two cycles of the nearby traffic lights she decided to take a walk, stretch her legs and whatnot.

The neon lights were just beginning to blink in bar windows advertising sake and food, and a light drizzle started to mist the pavement. It was always times like this that made the downtown of any city appealing to Reina. Couples sprinted through the precipitation with hands clasped tightly, and deep, honest laughter rang out from the bar doorways.

It almost seemed surreal as she waited for a crosswalk to signal it was safe to go, almost as if she was living someone else's life. She would've been the first one to step off the curb if a girl dressed in a middle school uniform hadn't darted past her, intent on scooping up a kitten shivering in the middle of the street. Tire squealed against the wet pavement as a car came screaming down the street, and time seemed to slow. It felt like she was moving at half speed as she reached out to grab the back of the girl's blouse, but the damp fabric slipped from her fingers; she was too slow.

The car didn't even brake as it came down the lane and blasted through the intersection. The girl flew through the air, leaving a spray of red, ethereal in the street lights. Then time returned to normal. People screamed, others clamored, but none moved to help the girl.

"Call an ambulance!" Reina ordered as she sprinted into the street to the girl's side. "What's your name?" she asked the girl who stared up at her with glazed eyes, she knew the girl was alive by the shallow rise and fall of her chest.

"Nagi," the girl croaked, blood bubbling up past her mouth.

"Nice to meet you, Nagi-chan," Reina said as she scanned the girl for injuries, "I'm Reina. I need you to stay with me, okay?" she said, gently wiping the blood that marred the girl's pale skin. "An ambulance is on its way; you're going to be fine."

"What the Hell are you looking at?" she snapped at the bystanders that had started to circle around them, glaring at the few who had pulled out their phones.

"Rei… na," Nagi's gurgling breath became shallower, bringing Reina's attention back to her.

"Shh," Reina hushed the struggling girl, smoothing her rain-slicked hair from her forehead. "You're going to be fine, the ambulance is almost here."

"Thank," Nagi coughed, sending droplets of blood mixed with spittle into the air. "Thank you," she whispered, her eyes unfocussed and a low, hiss of a breath passed through her lips.

"Nagi-chan?" Reina called out the girl, shaking her gently. "Nagi! ¡Joder!" she hissed, glancing around the intersection. "Where the Hell is that ambulance?"

* * *

Translations:

Joder - Fuck


	30. New Job

"Wow," Yoshiro started lamely as he sat next to Reina in an uncomfortable hospital chair, "take my eyes off of you for five minutes and you end up in a hospital…"

"Cute, Yoshi," Reina scoffed as she rested her head against the wall. "I'm glad to see that years of school have done nothing to dampen your humor. I was beginning to worry after the Masters' Degree."

"That's 'Dr. Yoshi' to you," he tutted, tapping her on the chest with a rolled up paper.

"Mozeltov," she deadpanned, closing her eyes; "you must feel so fulfilled right now."

"Yes, I can now leave this life of learning behind me and embark upon my life-long dream of paying off Student Loans via waiting tables," he snorted as he stood up. "Come on," he urged, looking back at her, "I need to start sending out my resume so companies can send me their rejection letters."

"You can go ahead without me," she said, turning her head to look at the doors leading to the Intensive Care Unit. "I think I'll hang out here for a little bit."

"Reina," Yoshiro said in a stern voice. "I know I might not be a medical doctor, but I heard what the staff was saying. Her internal organs _collapsed_, there's hardly anything there for them to even try to reconstruct. They're just waiting for her parents to give the okay to pull the plug; she's not going to miraculously pull through at the last moment."

Reina didn't respond as she continued to stare at the set of double doors. She heard him sigh heavily and his footsteps start to lead away from her.

"It should've been me," she said, barely above a whisper.

She was shaking. Why was she shaking? This wasn't her first brush with death, far from it. It certainly wasn't to be her last either. Maybe it was because she had witnessed for the first time a byproduct of the bizarre brand of luck that kept her alive. An innocent's life in exchange for hers.

"Oh please," Yoshiro scoffed, causing Reina to jump a little bit; she thought he had made it to the elevators already. "If it really should've been you it would've been you."

She turned to look at him with eyes wide, still shaking a bit. He stood by an empty nurses' station looking at her expectantly.

"Now stop moping," he ordered, "There are easily ten more productive things that you could be doing right now."

* * *

"Well, Soto-chan, I'm sure you're wondering why we called you," a woman's voice started nervously on a Tuesday morning.

"The question did cross my mind," Reina agreed, nodding her head even though her conversational partner couldn't see her. Why _would_ Nami Chuu call her?

"Well, we, uh; we have a new position opening up here and we thought that, ah – if you were interested, that is – we thought you would be a good choice to fill it."

"Okay," she drew out the last part of the word and paused, waiting to see if the woman would say anything else without a prompt. "What is it?" she prodded after a few seconds.

"Hm? Oh, yes! The position is tutoring the students who were recently released from the hospital," the woman explained. "You would only have to come in one or two days a week; not very many students need help."

"Alright," Reina agreed without much thought; what was the worst that could happen?

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" the woman gasped and Reina could just envision her jumping happily in her rolling chair. "You can start whenever, just check in with the main office and we'll get everything finalized.

* * *

"You have no idea how much this means to us!" Nami Chuu's mouse-like secretary said for the fourth time in the span of 20 minutes. "The teachers just couldn't handle the extra work load, and hiring a tutoring company would've been just too much."

Reina hummed as she clasped her hands behind her back, looking around the clean hallway they were walking down.

"The faculty just wants you to take one or two college courses. Nothing major," the woman quickly said, "just to make sure you're qualified."

"Understandable," Reina agreed with a nod, already working out the easiest way to accomplish this. Online seemed to be her best option.

"Well, here's the room you will be meeting in for the time being, depending on how well these next few weeks go we may make your position permanent."

"This should be fine," Reina said as she stepped through the doorway into the plain classroom.

It was on the second floor of the building and had a great view of the main gate of the campus. One of the windows was open and a few green leaves from a nearby tree rested on the empty sill. It looked like it would hold maybe thirty students comfortably, though most of the desks were shoved into the back of the room. Almost immediately Reina began to map out escape routes and different ways to make this room the safest it could possibly be in the worst case scenario.

"So, we have you scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday from noon to one, and again on the same days at four until six; the days and times might change depending on the students' need of your help," the woman continued, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"So I'll see you tomorrow," Reina said, turning and smiling at the woman.

"Yes, see you tomorrow," the woman returned the smile.

* * *

"Well, this certainly is exciting," Reborn said as he leaned back in his seat in the small space he had cleared out in Nami Chuu's ventilation system.

He had overheard everything from his station. Needless to say he would be making a few modifications of his own to Reina's classroom. Leon turned into a small hand held radio, and Reborn nodded in agreement; listening devices were going to be the first things he planted. Followed closely by video surveillance.


	31. First Day

Reina started her day relatively early; and by relatively early it's meant that she woke up at 4 am wondering what the Hell was wrong with her. After spending a good half hour attempting to go back to sleep she finally admitted to herself that she wasn't going to get any more sleep that morning and rolled out of bed. Literally.

"I hate my life," she groaned, staring up at the ceiling from the floor.

"Why would you say that, Reina-chan?" Reborn asked, peering down at her from her bedside table.

"Because you're in it," she said, dramatically throwing an arm over her eyes.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," the baby scolded, jumping onto her stomach.

"Oh, fuck you," Reina coughed, rolling onto her side.

"Neither is that," he said with a disproving frown, shaking his head slightly.

"Neither is that," she repeated in a nasally voice as she got to her feet and began to trudge around her room.

She cursed softly when she stubbed her toes on some of the stacks of books as she stumbled over to the light switch. She winced when she turned the lights on, and then looked blearily around the room.

"How did you even get in here?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm magical."

"God damn babies," she muttered to herself as she turned into the hallway. "I'm never having kids," she continued, shutting the door to the bathroom behind her.

* * *

Reina frowned as she checked under a desk shoved into the back corner of the classroom. This was the third listening device she had found so far over the course of five minutes; clearly whoever planted these doubted her abilities. She stood up straight as she turned the small machine over in her hands, keeping her back turned to the door even when she heard it creak open.

"How do you like the classroom, Reina-chan?" That baby had been showing up literally everywhere that day; her home, the market, and now at her work.

"There's a bit of a bug problem," she admitted, crushing the listening device in her hand. "But I've got it covered," she smirked as she let the debris fall to the tile floor.

"Well, the students should be arriving soon," Reborn changed the subject, jumping onto a desk. "Dame-Tsuna's one of them," he told her, watching her closely to gauge her reaction to this information.

"He was attacked?" Reina frowned as she shoved some desks around to make uniform rows. She found that very hard to believe. "I thought only the _strong_ students enrolled here were in the hospital."

"He's strong in his own way," the Arcoballeno defended his student; clearly he was the only one there allowed to belittle the Vongola Decimo. "You would be surprised."

"I'm sure I would," she murmured softly as she lined up the last of the desks.

She had made sure to keep her reaction indifferent on the outside, but internally she was a bit shaken. Her neighbor had been attacked? Anyone would go after the boy who cowered for no reason was beyond scum to her. She made a mental note to watch him more closely to be sure that it wouldn't happen again.

"Look," she started; bowing her head a bit and allowing her now shoulder-length hair fall forward and veil her face. "I know what you're doing."

"What could you possibly mean, Reina-chan?" Reborn asked with fake innocence.

"I know you're here to watch over Atún," she said slowly, adjusting a chair so it lined up with the rest of them. "I know he's supposed to be the prime candidate for the next Vongola Boss," she closed her eyes when she said this, as if it was painful for her utter the words.

"What," the baby started to say, but she cut him off.

"I also know who the other candidate is," she continued, turning to look him in his beady black eyes. "And you should know if any harm comes to him," she took a deep, steadying breath, "it will be on your head, and I will make you pay."

"Why do you care?" Reborn asked with a confused frown, had she just threatened him?

"Because anyone who drags a _child_," she put extra emphasis on the word, "and let's be honest here, that's what he is – into this business deserves nothing less than death."

It clicked in his mind then. That was why she was so distant around him; why she clammed up whenever he asked a question. He was everything she hated in the world.

Before he could continue their conversation the sounds of students filing into the hallway outside permeated through the walls, then the door opened and the sounds grew louder.

"Haha, look who it is, Tsuna-kun!" she recognized Yamamoto's friendly laugh. "It's Soto-san!"

* * *

Reina was extremely bored right now. It turned out that her job was nothing more than just to sit there and watch as the students did homework and answer any questions that they might have. _So_ interesting… she found herself watching the clock just as much or even more than some of the less studious students scattered around the room. She had counted 30 students sitting at the desks, and surprisingly enough most of them were wearing the red Disciplinary Committee arm band; all except for Tsuna, Yamamoto, and some loud-mouthed blond who kept yelling about how people should join the Boxing Club every ten minutes.

She sighed heavily as she leaned back in her chair. She should seriously consider bringing a newspaper with her next time. The door slammed open, causing everyone in the room to jump a bit in their seats. Everyone except for Reina, that is. She simply rolled her head to the side so she could stare blandly at the one who so rudely interrupted the study session. It was everyone's favorite schizoid head prefect, Hi-something…

"Ah! Hibari-sama!" one of the Committee members jumped to his feet, soon followed by the rest of the prefects.

Tsuna squeaked at the name, Yamamoto just continued on in his own oblivious fashion, the blonde yelled something about his entrance being "EXTREME" and how everyone there should join the Boxing Club, and Reina closed her eyes and hung her head; she could guess what this was about.

"Get lost, herbivores," Hibari growled, and everyone immediately started to leave the room. "Not you," he said, catching Reina by the arm as she tried to brush past him.

"You know, you should really start calling people something other than 'herbivore'," she advised as she pulled out of his grip. "It's starting to get confusing."

He only grunted as he took a step towards her, drawing his tonfas from his sleeves with a gleam of bloodlust in his silver eyes.


	32. Tie

Reina's face was mildly annoyed as she watched Hibari paced towards her with his metal tonfas drawn.

"Look," she started as she side stepped a swing. "I'm sure we both have some very important things to do today," she continued, ducking to one side, "so why don't you just step aside and we can get on with our lives?" she asked as she caught one of his tonfas in her hand. "Hm?" She pressed, leaning in close to him.

He only smirked as his steely gray eyes danced with a sadistic light. She frowned as she tightened her grip on his weapon with the intent of ripping it out of his hand, and his smirk grew. She heard a soft click before it felt like something was being stabbed into her hand wrapped around the tonfa. When her eyes widened a bit at the pain Hibari's smirk almost turned into a grin. Almost.

"What?" Reina gasped as she glanced at her hand to see metal spikes protruding from the weapon and blood trickling down her wrist. "The Hell?"

She quickly let go and stared down at her bleeding hand to see her palm covered in puncture wounds leaking the crimson liquid. She gritted her teeth and glared at the prefect who continued to smirk as if he had already won. Reina balled her injured hand into a fist and swung at him with a furious right hook. Hibari grew even smugger – if that was even possible – as he blocked her swing. She growled as she reached towards the small of her back where she had hidden her staff and practically ripped it out of its holder.

The clang of metal echoed around the room as Hibari blocked her strike with his other tonfa. Her knuckles started to turn white as she clenched her hand even tighter around her still collapsed staff and her upper lip curled into a sneer. Contempt bubbled up in her stomach as she matched his metallic stare with her own chocolate glare.

"What is wrong with you?" She growled as she pressed her weight down on him, "Did your mother not hold you when you were young?"

Reina watched with mild satisfaction as the prefect gave the slightest of twitches at her insult. Someone had "Mommy Issues".

Instead of retaliating like she would've sworn that he would do, he stopped resisting and allowed her to stumble towards him while he calmly stepped to the side. She was about to turn to face him, but froze when she felt small pricks of metal on the back of her neck.

"Dead," he declared smugly, adding a bit of pressure to the spikes against her neck.

Reina's blood ran cold for a moment before it started to boil. That's what this was all about? Well, two could play at that.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she shot back, ducking down more and tackling Hibari to the ground with her arms wrapped around his thighs.

The desks screeched against the tile as they were shoved aside by the two grappling against each other. Both their weapons had been dropped and were now skittering away unnoticed. Reina straddled him with a fistful of his shirt in one hand and the other palm pressed against his face, smearing his pale skin with bright red blood. Hibari also had her shirt balled up in his hands as he tried to push her off of him, but not succeeding until finally he bucked his hips and threw her into a row of desks.

She crashed into the furniture and lay stunned in the upturned chairs for a moment. She panted to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her as she stared up at her opponent. His manic grin paired with the smears of red on his face gave him a demonic appearance that almost made her believe the rumors about him. Then she regained her breath and launched herself at him, driving her shoulder into his diaphragm.

Instead of keeling over gasping for breath like she had expected, Hibari caught her by the shoulders and threw her into a desk and pinned her there. One of his hands held her wrists in place while the other encircled her neck while she struggled against him. She managed to free her hands and started to claw at his face and the pale digits restricting her airflow until they heard a noise from the hallway and both of them stopped moving completely.

It sounded like… children's laughter, and of course Hibari had to go stamp it out.

"We'll call it a draw," Reina panted as she propped herself up on her elbows.

The prefect smirked at her as he picked up his tonfas and wiped some of the blood off his face. The brunette let out a breathy chuckle as she steadied herself of shaky legs and began to right the desks that had been shoved out of the way. She ignored the blood crusting on her palm as she searched the floor for her discarded staff. She idly clenched and unclenched her hand, fascinated at the way that the skin of her palm stretched over the puncture wounds.

"Oh God damn him!" she groaned in frustration when she couldn't find the metal cylinder; two guesses as to why it was missing.

* * *

Reborn's eyes glittered greedily as he watched the loading wheel on his computer screen. There had been one bug left in the classroom after Reina's sweep. It was located in an air vent, so it wasn't the best quality; but he wasn't going to complain. His face brightened a few lumens when the wheel disappeared and the video started playing. He watched in glee as Hibari and Reina fought each other, and his face fell when they suddenly stopped. Had Reina conceded? Not likely. So the only other explanation was that something had interrupted them.

He was shaken out of his musings when Reina's face filled his screen.

"I hope you liked the little show," her voice crackled through the speakers, "because it's the only one you'll get." Then the feed cut to static.

The Arcoballeno leaned back with a wry smirk. So she hadn't missed that one after all; she had meant for him to bear witness to this. He hated to admit it, but as he watched the error message pop up on his screen, he had to give credit where credit was due. She was one of the best at covering up her tracks; if he hadn't been meant to see that fight the he wouldn't have. If that's even what one would call it. Now that he knew that she had known the he had been filming, he couldn't shake the suspicion that it had all been a show – as she had called it – for his benefit.

Well, that settled it; he would have to find a different way to see Reina fight, and he knew just how to do that.


	33. Kidnapped!

Reina sighed as she packed a backpack with clothes and other essentials. Yet another job, and by the way things looked she would be out for at least a week. Part of her was glad to be getting away from the oddly clamorous Namimori – wow, never thought she'd say that – and another part of her dreaded going on this assignment.

A very wealthy man by the name of Wanatabe Goro had contacted him since his daughter had been kidnaped; not very surprising. The surprising part was that there was no ransom being demanded. Reina guessed that the kidnappers were most likely human traffickers, but somehow she couldn't find it in her to tell the girl's father that his daughter was probably in a different country by the time he came to her for help. That raised another question, how did the man know about her? She hardly ever did jobs like this, and the few that she had done had been on a different continent. She assumed that it had been from a foreign business partner; that's how news usually traveled in the business world.

For a long moment she stared down at her staff collapsed into a metal tube in her hand. Should she bring any weapons? Based off of what she had gathered she would have to do a fair amount of infiltrating in order to find the man's daughter, so the less sophisticated weapons she had with her the less suspicious she would seem to the kidnappers. With that decided she set her staff aside and slid a butterfly knife into the waistband of her pants, shivering a bit at the sensation of cold metal against her skin.

Now that was settled she could get started.

* * *

Reborn frowned as he looked around Reina's kitchen. There was no sign of her – heck, there was no sign that anyone had been living there for at least a month. She definitely knew how to clear out, he would give her that much. He moved on to search the rest of the house for any sign of her, though he got the sinking suspicion that he wouldn't find any.

When he got to her bedroom his eyes light up a bit; her computer was sitting on her bed humming quietly. He gleefully hopped onto her bed and opened the laptop, and was greeted with Reina's face filling the entire screen.

"Hey, Baby," she greeted, looking a bit annoyed. "Two things; one: I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so don't go touching my stuff. Two: this message will self-destruct in ten seconds."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at this claim, doubting that she would go through with her statement.

"Just kidding," she said with a short laugh, "but seriously, don't mess with my stuff; you'll regret it."

Then the video cut off and he was left staring at a blank screen.

Well… that put a damper on Reborn's plans. He was just going to have to go through with plan "B" then, though to be honest he never actually expected plan "A" to work. The Arcoballeno fingered the half Vongoloa Cloud Ring in his pocket pensively; on one hand having a Guardian that left randomly wasn't desirable, though on the other maybe having Reina as a Guardian would make her stay put…

Either way that didn't matter now. The Guardian Battles were going to be soon and he needed someone that he knew he could count on to be there.

"Hibari it is," Reborn sighed as he jumped off the bed and left the room.

* * *

Reina did her best to look lost and slightly helpless as she walked through the back alleys of downtown Tokyo. From what she had gathered many girls were going missing from the area, most of the disappearances had all been within the past month, and she was willing to bet that they were all related in more ways than one. She hunched her shoulders a bit as she walked underneath a streetlamp, very aware of the eyes that were following her.

"Now what's a pretty girl like you doing out at this time of night?" a man asked as his figure filled her peripheral vision.

"What does it matter?" she muttered, "Not like anyone cares."

"Well, I do," the man said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Wouldn't want anyone to… take advantage of you," he whispered into her ear, and Reina had to suppress a shudder of disgust.

"You should have a breath mint before you do that again," she advised, leaning away from him slightly.

The man threw his head back and laughed heartily as if she had just told a great joke.

"Oh, I like you," he chuckled, pulling her closer to him. "I might just keep you for myself," he admitted with a slimy grin and suddenly there was a blade pressed against her throat.

Reina froze in her steps immediately and took in a deep breath like she was about to scream.

"No, don't do that," the man ordered, pressing his knife a bit harder against her windpipe. "It's like you said, no one cares about you now."

She only swallowed in response, but started walking again when he urged her. He guided her to an old warehouse by a river, and that's all Reina remembered before the man hit her on the back of the head; knocking her out cold.

* * *

When she finally began to regain consciousness she kept her eyes closed, feigning sleep for a few more minutes to see if she could gain any information. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was the smell of humans forced to live extremely close together. The second thing was the sounds, or rather lack thereof. She could hear the scampering of rodents across the floor, but not much else. The air didn't move, so she guessed that there was no ventilation wherever she was. The ground wasn't rocking beneath her, so that meant that she was still on land as opposed to being on a plane or boat. Finally she opened her eyes, and then she saw it.

Not half a meter away from where she lay on the cold concrete was a group of maybe a dozen girls huddled together, all staring at her with wide eyes. They were all young, though some looked like they couldn't be out of primary school yet and the oldest looked like she was still a year or so younger than Reina. All were dirty and some sported bruises and cuts on their visible skin, and Reina felt the blood start to boil in her veins.

She took a deep, steadying breath as she sat up and rubbed the spot where she had been hit, vowing silently to pay the man back for the blow. It was then that one of the girls took a timid, shuffling step towards her. She had straight black hair that framed her innocent face, but her eyes seemed to be a bit sunken, possibly due to malnutrition or maybe because of what she had witnessed during her captivity. Reina would guess that she was maybe ten years old, making her about the same age as the Wanantabe's daughter.

"Are you Wanatabe Sachiko?" Reina asked softly, and the girl nodded in response. "Don't be scared," she urged, holding out a hand to the younger girl. "I'm going to get you out of here."


	34. The Escape

The room the girls had been crammed into was cold and drafty on top of filthy, causing one or two to begin to show signs of illness. According to Sachiko their captors had started to give them medications on a semi-regular basis; about every six hours or so. So all Reina had to do was wait until they made another round. A quick search of her person revealed that the kidnappers had relieved her of her hidden blade, so she was left with her fists and feet to fight with; great.

"Are you really here to save us?" a wide eyed girl asked, seeming even paler with the dirt smudged on her cheeks.

"Yes," Reina confirmed as she removed the light jacket she wore and wrapped it around her shoulders. "How long have you been here?" she asked, looking around to the other girls eyeing her with a mix of admiration and despair.

"Rukia's been here the longest, three months she said. Sachiko's been here for only a few days," the girl said with a soft sniffle.

"And how long have you been here?" Reina asked, tucking a piece of the girl's black hair behind her ear.

"Three weeks," the girl admitted, looking down at the ground and wiggling her bare toes. "I'll be 12 in another week."

"Then we'll have to have you out of here for your birthday," Reina smiled, patting the girl on her head as she stood up.

When the sound of the door unlocking echoed around the small room all the girls scampered to hide away to hide behind Reina, who only had enough time to glance behind her at the children – since that's what they really were – before the door swung open on rusty hinges. In came a man carrying a silver tray with what looked like food and water clattering against the metal. The man sneered at them as he tossed the tray onto the ground, spilling most of the water out of the glasses and onto the concrete.

When he turned around to leave Reina took her chance and lunged at him, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and throwing him onto the ground. Before he had a chance to call out for help she silenced him with a kick to the head. She wished that the girls didn't have to watch as blood dripped out of a cut his temple, but that thought quickly fled and was replaced by another.

"Stay here until I come get you," she instructed as she started to drag the man's unconscious body into the hallway.

If she couldn't protect the girls from what they had already seen, she could at least be sure that they didn't see any more.

The oldest girl nodded in confirmation as she gathered the younger girls close to her. Reina eased the door shut and started off down the hallway, "accidentally" giving the man another "gentle nudge" with her foot on her way. The rest of the warehouse – or so Reina guessed it was – was much like the small room, cold and dirty with about as much charm as a cemetery.

On the main floor of the warehouse intermingled with the decrepit machinery and dusty crates was a large metal barrel with a fire blazing in it with four men circled around it warming their hands. She stood still for a moment and listened to their conversation. A chill ran down her spine as she listened, and she suddenly became happier that she took this job.

"I can't believe people are willing to pay for these brats!" one of the muttered, rubbing his hands together, "Well, maybe not the last one we picked up," he added after a moment of thought, "I wouldn't mind putting down a hundred thousand on her."

Reina gagged silently, trying her best to not throw up – or at least do so quietly. The thought appalled her, not just the thought of selling people, but more the thought of what was going through that man's head when he said that. After regaining her composure she maneuvered stealthily behind a large crate and pressed her back to it, taking a deep breath as she considered her options. She could rush in and take all four of them at once, not something she wanted to do when she didn't know their skill level, or she could retreat for the moment to find a weapon.

"What's this?" Reina's head snapped to the side that the voice had originated from and found one of the men staring right at her.

Well, that took care of that…

Reina immediately shot to her feet and drove her shoulder into the man's diaphragm, knocking the breath from him and sending him crashing into a rusted pile of machine parts. The other three were on her in a moment, and suddenly she had to dodge three different knives at once. She grabbed one of the arms thrusting at her and shoved the heel of her palm into its elbow, dislocating the joint with a sickening pop. She snatched the knife that the now limp hand had released from the air and brandished it at the remaining two.

The men circled her for a few tense seconds before the larger of the two lunged at her. She crouched down and caught him at his knees and stood up, using his momentum to flip him over her shoulder and he landed behind her on his partner with a heavy thump. Reina whirled around to face the pile of limbs, just in case they tried to attack her again, but it would appear that the two hand knocked their heads against each other's in their collision. She took in a shaky breath as she backed away slowly from them and right into another.

"You bitch," the man seethed as he held his elbow in close to his chest. "You'll pay for that!"

Somewhere in the back of her mind a witty one-liner prepared itself to be shot out of her mouth at the man, but it never got the chance. Opting for action over dialogue she swiped with the small blade clutched in her hand, missing by bare centimeters. He jumped back, keeping just out of reach as she continued to strike at him. After a few more failed attempts to cut him Reina gave a frustrated growl and threw the knife at him, hitting him between two of his ribs. He fell down with a cry of pain, not sure whether to clutch at his arm or his side.

Reina skirted around him, sure to keep out of the range of his good arm as she searched around the large room. She let out a breath of relief when she found her backpack placed on a rickety table in the corner. She slung it between her shoulders and turned around to go back to the girls, but stopped in her tracks. One of the men had gotten back to his feet and was staggering towards her with an angry gleam in his eyes.

Reina kept a good grip on the knife as she widened her stance a bit. The man faked a lunge to her right, but she saw through it and put the knife up on her left and his eyes widened. He had impaled himself on the knife, she realized as she felt his warm blood start to drop onto her hand. She let go of the handle and took a few steps back. Sure, she had killed before; but she had never quite been so… close to it before. She glanced down at her stained hands and absently wiped them on the now fallen man's back, forcing her shock down so she could continue.

She made her way back to the small room, once again kicking the now drooling man outside the door for good measure. When she pushed the door open she found the girls huddled towards the back of the room watching the doorway with wide eyes.

"Come on," Reina urged, motioning with her hand for them to follow, "we gotta be quick."

The girls immediately rushed towards her and wrapped themselves around her legs.

"We were so scared!"

"There were scary noises!"

"And we thought you wouldn't come back!"

"Alright, alright," Reina tried to placate the girls clinging to her, "we have to go now, everything's going to be fine."

All the younger girls tried to hold her hand as she led them out of the room and down the hall, making sure to keep away from the slouched forms of the men once they reached the main room. Once they made it to the pavement everyone seemed to lighten up immensely, the reality of their escape putting more energy into their steps. When the youngest started to lag behind on her shorter legs Reina paused for a bit to hoist the child up onto her hip so they could continue at their fast pace.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when they finally made it to the nearest police station. Reina slid on her large sunglasses as she began to climb up the steps leading to the front door, flipping some of her hair out of her face for good measure. The clerk barely looked up from the computer at the front desk when they walked into the door, in fact, the clerk didn't even acknowledge their existence even when Reina stepped up to the desk.

"Good morning," Reina said, clearing her throat and gaining the clerk's attention. The woman behind the desk looked up with a disinterested look, but her expression quickly turned to surprise when she saw the group of dirty girls. "We'd like to file a report," Reina said as she adjusted the child resting on her hip.


	35. Flotsam

Reina sat as patiently as she could manage underneath the fluorescent lights of the police station. She had her head resting against the wall behind her, just listening to the bustling of the people passing by her. Her hand gave the barest of twitches towards the knife hidden at the small of her back when she heard someone sit down in a hard plastic chair next to her.

"Why do you wear sunglasses inside?" an innocent voice asked.

Reina glanced down towards the source of the voice and saw Sachiko looking up at her expectantly. She considered the small girl for a moment as she tried to decided how best to answer her question. Without the smudges of dirt marring her face she was rather cute, and Reina would guess that this little girl would grow up to be a beautiful woman.

_If she makes it that long_, a cynical voice commented in the back of her mind.

"The lights hurt my eyes," Reina answered easily, settling back into a more comfortable position.

"Oh," Sachiko said softly.

The ringing of phones and the clacking of keys on a keyboard filled the air between them for a long second before Sachiko spoke up again.

"Are you going to take me back to my father?" she asked, knocking her heels against the legs of her chair.

"Yes," Reina answered, turning her head a bit to look down at the girl. "He asked me to."

"That's surprising," she scoffed softly, looking down and away from Reina. "I'm amazed he even noticed I was missing…"

"Don't say that," the brunette teen chastised lightly, "he was very distraught when he called me."

"Probably because he thought he would have to pay a ransom for me," Sachiko muttered.

"You'll see," Reina sighed, placing a hand on the girl's back. "He'll be happy to see you."

* * *

The train rocked gently as it shot down the tracks on its way to Nagoya. Reina and Sachiko were seated in an otherwise vacant car in silence, Reina staring out the window and Sachiko finding the floor very interesting. The trees set against the afternoon sky flew by in a green blur reflected on her tinted glasses.

"I'm tired," Sachiko said, shifting a bit closer to Reina.

"Then go to sleep," Reina said simply, not looking down at the girl who had practically crawled into her lap. "I won't stop you."

"Will you tell me a story?" she asked, looking up at the older girl with expectant eyes.

Reina looked down into the child's eyes for a moment before letting out a heavy breath, all her excuses leaving her mind with the exhale.

"About what?" she asked, moving her arm to wrap around the younger girl's shoulders and pulling her a bit closer.

"Will you tell me a story about you?" Sachiko asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

For not even a fraction of a second Reina felt her heart drop. Should she tell this girl – whom she knew nothing about – about the things that had happened in her life? That had happened to her? Better yet, did she even have any memories that would be appropriate for a child's ears?

"Are you sure?" she asked with a playful lilt in her voice, "I'm not a very interesting person…"

"Yes you are!" Sachiko gasped, looking up at Reina as if she had been slapped. "You're a hero! You saved me and the other girls!"

"I'm not a hero," Reina said softly, turning to look out the window again.

"Well, I think you are," the girl huffed as she settled her head against Reina's shoulder.

The teen gave a sort of half-smile at the comment and let quiet fall between them for a while before she spoke up again.

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land there was a girl," she started, a little unsure of how to phrase things. "She had a mother, a father, and a brother; and they lived happily together by the sea. One day their happiness was destroyed by a snake, a terrible, venomous snake. The snake killed the girl's mother and kidnapped the girl and brought her to his native land." Reina stopped talking as she listened to the girl's steady breathing, signifying that she was asleep.

She sighed and rested her head against the glass of the window behind her. It was going to be a long train ride if this child kept asking her questions.

* * *

"Wait," Sachiko said, halting abruptly and tightening her grip on Reina's hand.

"What is it?" Reina asked, looking down at the girl.

"Do I _have_ to go back?" she asked as she looked up at the teen with large, innocent eyes.

"Tell you what," Reina sighed, crouching down to the child's level, "next time you're in Namimori, feel free to look me up."

"Okay!" Sachiko's face lit up. "Wait," she said after a pause, "what's your name?"

"Reina," the teen said after a long moment. "Now let's go, best not to keep your father waiting."

* * *

It was after well midnight when Reina stepped off the platform in Namimori. She reveled in the cool night air as she cut through the drainage ditches as she made her way home. Here was calm, here was peace, here was – relative – normality. Here she didn't have to worry about fighting for her life or the lives of others. Here she was free. She allowed a small smile to cross her face as she started to slide down a grassy bank expecting to find damp concrete at the bottom, but instead she found a raging river.

"What?" she gasped as she watched the black water crash through the channel; was that **blood** in the water?

She eased herself down to the water's edge, careful to not fall in as she tried to get a better look. From the gaping maw that led to the sewers she thought she saw a glimmer of silver, or was that white? Slowly emerging into the moonlight was a body floating face-down, white hair trailing in front of it in the current. Without pausing for a moment to think of a plan Reina threw her backpack higher up the embankment and waded into the rushing water. Was this dangerous? Yes. Was this stupid? Yes. But that's okay, it seemed that dangerous and stupid was her specialty.

She gripped the turf just beneath the surface of the water as she fought against the current with her other arm, waiting for the body to come closer. When it was within her reach she grabbed its arm and hauled herself back up the bank along with the waterlogged body. She panted heavily as she lay on her back for a moment before rolling over to examine the body.

She felt her blood run cold when she recognized the crest stitched into the tattered black jacket on the body. With shaking hands she cleared some of the hair from the face and she was pretty sure her blood had been replaced with ice water at that moment. She knew the sharp features that the white hair had hidden; she remembered them contorted into a snarl of rage reflected off of a shining sword leveled at her neck. She scuttled backwards up the hill, her feet slipping on the grass and heart pounding in her throat.

"Hello?" a voice called down from street level, "Is anyone down there?"

"There's a man," she answered back, her voice rising over the sound of the water, "he's bleeding heavily and needs help!"

She heard footsteps shuffling down the bank as she grabbed her backpack and started to dig through it. Her fingers brushed against her sunglasses when she saw a blond man kneel down next to her and start examining the bleeding man carefully. She quickly released the accessory and tilted her chin down so her face was covered by her hair as she feigned searching for bandages.

"Romario!" the man called over his shoulder back up to the street, "Call an ambulance!"


	36. That Escalated Quickly

"So Miss," the blonde man started and looked at Reina expectantly.

"Shin," she lied easily to fill in the blank he had left, still sure to keep her head tilted towards the ground.

"Right," the man paused for a moment and Reina's blood ran a few degrees colder, but returned to normal temperature when he continued. "If you don't mind my asking, Shin-san, why were you out here so late at night?"

"My brother was supposed to pick me up from the train station," she explained with one of the many prefabricated excuses she had stored away, "but he didn't come – I think he fell asleep or something – so I decided to take a shortcut home."

The man nodded along as if her story made sense to him, but Reina had the sinking suspicion that he didn't believe her.

"I, uh, I have to go," the brunette teen started with a forced stutter. "My brother… he's probably worried…"

"Of course," the man nodded to one of the men in suits standing nearby. "Giovanni will take you home."

"Something tells me that showing up with a man in a suit will do nothing for my brother's nerves," Reina tried to dissuade him from sending anyone with her.

She would have to have been a fool to not know who she was talking too. Dino Chiavarone, Boss of the Chiavarone Famiglia – and the Mafia's "Most Eligible Bachelor" as she had once heard someone call him – but what he was doing in Namimori was a mystery to her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered why he wasn't taking more precautions with hiding his identity; his tattoo was very recognizable and very exposed by his white t-shirt.

"Ah, of course," the blonde smiled slightly. "How silly of me; I'll walk you home then to keep your brother from worrying more than he has to."

"Really, there's no need," she tried again, "I'll be fine, I don't live very far from here."

"Then it should be no problem," Dino said as he linked his arm with hers.

Reina's mind flew into a panic when she found her feet automatically going towards her house; there was no clear way out of this situation, and she would rather not have a Mafia Boss know where she lived given the kind of work she usually did. She couldn't have him drop her off at a safe house, there wasn't one for kilometers, and she couldn't go to an apartment complex… could she? She quickly adjusted her course to take her to where she knew an apartment complex with a high wall surrounding it was.

"Are you from around here, Shin-san?" Dino asked, trying to start a friendly conversation.

"No," Reina answered, attempting to keep the stiffness in her spine from leaking into her tone.

"Where are you from?"

"Kagoshima."

"What does your brother do?"

"Research."

"What does he research?"

"Things."

And so the conversation went with Reina answering with lies, half-truths, and vague answers. She was actually quite surprised when he didn't give up on small talk after the first few minutes. What she wasn't surprised by was the tall man in a suit that was following them.

She felt her heart begin to sink as they approached her intended destination. The apartments had been demolished, and now instead of a high brick wall there was a chain link fence with a "Keep Out" sign hanging by one corner and swinging in the breeze. Her mind was already beginning to work out an explanation when he spoke.

"You know, Reborn-san was right," Dino said casually as if this was just another topic for small talk. "You seem much older than you are, Soto Reina."

In a fraction of a moment she had slammed him down onto the ground and had one hand pressed against his chest and the other held her butterfly knife to his throat as she straddled him.

"Did he also tell you what I do?" she growled as she pressed the blade a bit harder into his skin.

"He had his guesses," he gulped, looking between Reina's expression and the weapon as if he was trying to decide which was more dangerous.

"Then I'm surprised that you didn't keep your distance, Chiavarone Dino," she sneered, fully aware of the person taking measured steps towards them.

She didn't remove her glare from the man beneath her as she blocked the kick aimed for her head with her empty hand, and she didn't even blink when she yanked on the leg, sending its owner off balance and onto the hard concrete of the side walk.

"Stay out of this, Prefect," she spat, shifting her gaze to the silver eyed teen glaring darkly at her. "I'm not in the mood."

"What, ah, what would it take for you to put the knife away?" Dino asked, drawing her attention back to him.

"Depends," Reina said, shifting the blade so just the tip dug into his wind pipe. "Who all knows?"

"Just me," the blonde said, "Reborn-san only told me."

"Let's keep it that way," she ordered as she stood up. "It would be wise for you to keep your mouth shut," she advised as she turned and started to walk away; "what a shame it would be if the Mafia's Most Eligible Bachelor had a fatal accident."

* * *

It was close to three in the morning when Reina finally crossed over the threshold of her house. She casually flipped through the mail she had collected from the box as she kicked the door shut, not acknowledging the shadowed figure that lounged on her couch.

"You're pretty bold," it noted as it stood and walked to the doorway of the kitchen where she was.

She continued to ignore it as she started to open an envelope.

"Not many people can threaten a Mafia Boss and get away with it, let alone the second most powerful one in the world," the figure continued in its deep voice.

Reina snorted at this, but gave no other signs of acknowledgement.

"And no one who knows who I am would ignore me so blatantly," it growled, clearly annoyed by her behavior.

"And yet here I am," she hummed as she scanned the contents of the envelope before moving on to the next one.

"What a miracle that is," the figure muttered to itself, yet just loud enough for Reina to hear.

"Which brings to mind another question," she said as she turned around, choosing to ignore the comment for now. "Why are _you_ here?"

"What, a man can't investigate what he feels are threats to his family's safety?" the figure asked with a sort of mischievous smile visible on his still shadowed face.

"Well, when you've known about the threat for four years it is a bit suspicious…" Reina trailed off with a knowing smirk. "What are you really doing here, Iemitsu?"


	37. The Ring Battles

"I want a favor," Iemitsu said, stepping fully into the lit kitchen.

"Funny," Reina frowned, "I don't recall owing you any favors."

"I don't have much time to discuss this," the blond man frowned back at her, "I need you to keep an eye on Tsuna for me, I'm going to Italy."

"And how is this different from normal?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, "You're always in Italy."

"Let's just say I'm not the only one here from Italy," he said with a knowing look.

"So the guy I fished out of the water _wasn't_ here on vacation?" Reina gasped in mock shock, "Stop the presses," she finished in a sarcastic growl.

"Yes, well," Iemitsu coughed lightly, "I need you to watch the proceedings of the Ring Battles while I'm gone. If not to look out for yourself, then to gain a favor from CEDEF."

"Fine," she huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Thank you," he said as he turned to leave.

"Don't be so quick to thank me," she scoffed, "I already know what I want for my favor."

* * *

There weren't many times when Reina was glad that she was close to Yoshiro, but this was one of them. She sat cross legged on her bed watching her computer screen with a mildly interested look as she ate from a small tub of ice cream. She was viewing the video stream on mute, because honestly it wasn't much more entertaining that way. She had gone earlier that day and set up cameras in the gym so she didn't actually have to be there to fulfill her observing duties.

Things had started out interesting enough; people arrived, the combatants stepped forward, and then nothing happened. Absolutely nothing at all. That was when Reina turned off the audio and mad up her own dialogue for what she was watching. She decided that they were having an intense staring contest, and the winner would receive the other half to their Vongola Ring. She knew that she couldn't possibly be farther from the truth, but it was the only thing she could think of that would require literally no one to move or say anything.

Finally the match ended, and people started moving again. She noticed a bit late so when she turned the audio back on she only heard the last half of what one of the pink haired women said.

"Tomorrow will finally be the last card in the contest battles between the Guardians," one of them said, "The battle between the Cloud Guardians."

"Huh, qué suerte," she hummed with her spoon hanging out of her mouth and leaning back a bit as she closed the window. "This might possibly be the easiest thing I have ever done for a favor."

* * *

Reina hummed to herself as she scanned the take out menu for a local restaurant. She was so happy that she wasn't the only one who would stay up extremely late in Namimori, and even more for the 24-hour Chinese restaurant that had mailed her their flier.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a bored tone as she punched in the phone number listed along the bottom of the flier, not even looking up at the person who had just jumped up on her kitchen table.

"Where were you tonight?" a squeaky voice demanded.

"Yes, I would like an order of Hunan Chicken," she told the waitress that picked up the phone, resting her check on her hand. "Hey, do you want anything?" she asked, looking at Reborn as she buried the mouthpiece into her shoulder.

"No, that'll be all," she said into the receiver after a particularly frosty glare from the infant. "For pick up; about how long do you think it'll be?" she paused as the waitress answered in a cheery voice. "Thirty minutes is fine, and it's how much?" again she paused, "Alright, thank you."

"Where were you?" Reborn asked again in a near furious voice.

"What does it matter?" Reina rolled her eyes, "Not like anything happened anyway; they just had a staring contest."

"It was the scramble for the Vongola Mist Ring!" he corrected her, "Not a staring contest!"

"Really?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, "It looked like a staring contest on the video feed."

"It was a battle between illusionists," the hitman explained tersely.

"Must not be very good illusionists," she huffed, "couldn't even see any of their tricks…"

"Just… make sure to be at the one tonight," he sighed in annoyance.

"Why?"

"I most likely won't be there, and I need someone I can trust to observe the fight."

"Aww, how sweet," she cooed, "you trust me!"

"Don't flatter yourself;" he scoffed, "there's just no other neutral observers I can rely on."

"I wouldn't really call myself neutral," Reina said, "so much as someone who doesn't really give a shit."

"Hn, whatever helps you sleep at night," Reborn smirked.

* * *

Midnight came yet again, and found Reina camped out on the rooftop of one of the buildings at Nami Chuu. Next to her was a steaming thermos of coffee – at least, she liked to call it coffee; it was really just coffee-flavored milk and sugar. She had the hood of her black sweatshirt pulled over her head as she watched the battle field through the scope of the collapsible sniper rifle she had brought with her. She had a mic dangling about 15 meters from the edge of the building that fed audio to the earpiece in her left ear; unfortunately most of the audio was white noise created by the wind, so what she could make out was horribly garbled.

Nothing had started as of yet, so Reina took this time to assess the situation. The Guardians – or so she had been informed they were called – were expected to fight in a ring encircled by an chain-link fence topped by barbed wire with Gatling gun turrets set at even intervals. She assumed the turrets were set to shoot when something entered within a certain distance, making the only safe place the center of the ring; but safe was a very subjective term considering the arena.

When a strong breeze whipped up and almost tore the mic from its cord Reina began to pull it back up with a heavy sigh. Sometimes the thing just wasn't worth the trouble, and this was one of those times. She stowed the mic away into a side pocket of the duffle bag slumped next to her thermos and replaced the earpiece with a Bluetooth headset synced to her phone. Maybe she should order a pizza or something…

* * *

Translations

qué suerte - what luck


	38. The Ring Battles Continued

Here's how the fight was stacking up so far: it was that damn prefect Hibari versus a giant robot of some kind. Hibari had ripped one of the robot's arms off, but Reina still believed that the robot could win. Honestly, it could easily give him some pretty nasty electrical burns from those frayed wires sparking in the gaping hole where its arm used to be. Who cares that the battle was officially over? That giant robot wasn't out for the count yet!

Her silent cheer was cut off when Hibari challenged a particularly angry looking man in an expensive suit, who surprisingly accepted and jumped into the ring. This fight was a bit less interesting than the last one; the guy in the suit wouldn't fight back so it was turning out about as riveting as watching someone yell at a brick wall. It was then that Reina's headset started to buzz, snapping her concentration away from the fight she was viewing through her scope at ten times optical zoom.

"What?" she snapped as she pressed two fingers to her ear. "What do you mean 'there's someone inside Gola Mosca'?!" she practically screamed. "There's a person inside that thing?! What the Hell is wrong with these people?!" she paused in her ranting for a moment to listen to the other side as she panted angrily. "Well I guess you're shit out of luck," she snorted as she leveled her breathing and looked back through the scope, "because unless you want me to start trying to heal people with bullets I suggest you call someone who can bring some doctors here!" there was another pause, "How the Hell should I know? Call that Bucking Horse guy! He practically has his entire Famiglia here! There's bound to be some doctors with him!" she snapped before ending the call and returning her focus to the battle field.

There was a new fighter in the ring. It was Tsuna. And he was on fire. On. Freaking. Fire.

_What the actual fuck? Why the Hell is he on fire? What is with those gloves? Are they on fire? These people are freaking weird…_

Her neighbor then proceeded to use said flaming gloves to _cut_ the giant robot. In half. What the Hell? And on top of that, an old guy fell out of the broken mechanical husk. Seriously, what were these people on? Normal people didn't run around with fire on their hands and on their foreheads, and normal people definitely didn't put old guys in giant robots.

"Fucking Mafia," she growled as she released the safety on her rifle.

Reina trained her sights on the tall guy in the expensive looking suit; he was either the leader of the other side or someone extremely important to them. Either way, she would win. She had just lined the shot up perfectly and was about to pull the trigger when he turned. This wouldn't have bothered her as much if he hadn't looked directly at her and then said something to a subordinate; specifically a man with spiked hair and – ugh – _facial piercings_. The man turned to look at her too, and that spurred her into action.

She had already set up a rope to use as an escape route on the other side of the building, so she wasted no time in dashing across the rooftop with her rifle griped in one hand while the other slung the shoulder strap of her duffle bag across her body. In her wake she left her thermos knocked over onto its side, pouring its steaming contents out onto the rooftop. She jumped onto an air conditioning unit from which she leapt to the upper part of the fence surrounding the roof which she scrambled over and dropped down onto the thin ledge on the other side. With one hand still clutched around her rifle she crouched down and grabbed the rope that had been tied to a steam pipe and wrapped it once around her forearm. She walked as carefully and as quickly as she could over the ledge and a bit down the side of the building before beginning to rappel down to the ground. She could feel her skin beneath the rope begin to burn as she attempted to reach the ground in only one jump – which she failed and ended up slamming into a window around the second floor.

Suddenly she could feel herself slowly being hauled up the side of the building, and she could only assume that the face piercing guy had gotten to the roof and was trying to pull her back up. She braced her feet against the side of the building, tightened her grip on the rope and yanked back with all her strength. She guessed that the man had been stunned when the tugging on the rope ceased, which she used to her advantage so she could jump the remaining few meters to the ground. She wasted no time when her feet hit the ground and took off in a sprint across the courtyard. She ran a few steps up the wall surrounding the campus and gained a hand-hold on the top which she used to vault herself over to the street side. Her feet pounded against the asphalt until she reached a small alleyway which she turned down and crouched behind some large trashcans. Her hands shook as she began to disassemble her rifle and stow it away into her duffle bag. The adrenaline finally began to leave her blood stream and her heart rate returned to normal when she zipped her bag closed and stood back up.

"Herbivore."

She knew that voice, and to be honest she was ecstatic that it was him.

"Hibari," she panted lightly; it would appear that her heart rate wasn't completely normal yet.

"What are you doing here?" he growled in suspicion.

"Oh you know," she gulped, her throat still burning a bit from her frantic flight, "just got back from the gym."

"Nice fight, by the way," she said as she passed by him on her way back to the street, "though personally I was rooting for the giant robot."


	39. Tutoring

Reina sat in the empty classroom with her feet propped up on the teacher's desk as she lazily flipped through a newspaper. No students were showing up for tutoring, and that suited her just fine. With the way things had been going she wouldn't be surprised if the school let her go within the week, and again, that suited her just fine.

She was really only expecting one of two people to show up today, so when the door opened it didn't take her too long to figure out whose footsteps were making their way to where she was seated.

"You know," she started as she turned the page, "it's amazing the things you can find in the classifieds, Hibaka."

"Herbivore," came the warning growl which she promptly ignored.

"For example," she said as she laid the paper down flat on the desk and pointed to an ad. "There's a man who claims that he can remove the stick shoved up your ass," her eyes glittered mischievously as she met his gaze. "Want me to write his number down for you?"

Hibari glared intensely at her while she just smiled like it had no effect on her.

"Herbivore," he growled at her again.

"Yes, Hibaka?" she asked sweetly, "What could I possibly help you with?"

If it had seemed like being in the same room as her was painful for him before, it must have been torture for him to drop the packet of assignments onto the desk on top of her newspaper.

"What's this?" she asked with a frown as she picked up the packet and read the top sheet carefully.

His eye twitched in annoyance when she burst out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh my," she wheezed between her dying chortles, "this is… I don't even… pull up a chair," she instructed him as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

He glared at her as he slowly dragged a chair over to her desk, its metal legs screeching against the tile floor.

"Careful, Hibari-gakusei," she began to cackle again, "I'll make you buff out any marks you make on my floor!" she leaned a bit too far back as she laughed and ended up clutching to her sides on the floor as she attempted to calm herself down.

"Okay, okay," she panted as she righted her chair and climbed back into it. "Where should we start?"

* * *

It had taken Hibari less than thirty minutes to work through all the math problems in the packet, only fifteen to finish the Japanese worksheets, but now he was stuck on English assignments – and judging from the murderous aura he was emitting he wanted to snap his pencil in half, tear the papers to shreds, and stuff said shreds down Reina's throat. Since he had yet to do so, Reina had to admit that his self-restraint was more than a bit remarkable. She hadn't been making the process any easier for him; she had kept a constant stream of corrections and barbed comments going ever since he first asked her for help.

"No," she sighed; this was even starting to get old to her, "You didn't conjugate the verb correctly. It's 'Sandra and Greg _went_ to the movies' not 'Sandra and Greg go to the movies'. You're dealing with past tense here, not the present."

He glared darkly at her but made the correction anyway.

"You know, Hibaka," she started with her arms crossed over her chest, "if you keep giving me that look it'll lose its effect."

"Why do you call me that?" he asked her after a pause.

"Well, you have a nickname for me," she shrugged as she slouched back in her chair.

He glared at her again.

"There you go again. If it bothers you that much then just tell me," she rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, you're acting like a child."

"How do you know so much English?" he changed the subject.

"It's one of the most spoken languages in the world," she explained as she shifted to where her arms were resting on the desk and her cheek was resting on her arms. "If you want to do anything on a global scale then you have to learn it, no matter what."

* * *

The two fell into a silence, Hibari working on his assignments while Reina tried her best to keep her eyes open. It was about an hour later when Hibari looked up from the papers as if he wanted to say something, but Reina was long gone by then.

"Herbivore," he said in a soft voice he didn't even know he was capable of.

He received no response aside from Reina's steady breathing. He frowned at her behavior; it wasn't very professional to fall asleep on the job…

He took a moment to look at her – not glare, not size her up, not imagine beating her senseless – actually look at her. Her hair had grown out a bit since the first time he had seen her; it now fanned out around her shoulders and had more than a few ringlets curling against her skin. Her skin… it looked soft and it was the color of the light brown sugar his grandmother kept in the pantry for special occasions. He knew that behind her closed lids she had a pair of chocolate brown eyes that danced with a defiant fire that he had stopped hating but still annoyed him.

His hand moved of its own accord to brush away the dark brown curl that had fallen against her nose and froze when she shifted in her sleep. When it was clear that she wasn't going to wake up he allowed his eyes to wander again, drawn to the three glittering dots on the helix of her ear. He gently ran his fingertips over the dots and felt the raised bumps of piercings in stark contrast to her skin; it was as soft as it looked.

He stood up quickly when he realized the herbivorous thoughts that had been running through his mind. What did he care how she looked or felt? He was above such things, just as he was above her. She was just a lowly herbivore who had gotten lucky a few times, nothing more, nothing less. He was a carnivore; he was strong, he was smart, he was cunning. He could survive on his own, and he refused to believe that anyone – let alone this… _female_ – could possibly be his equal.

He gathered his things and walked briskly to the door, making sure to slam it closed behind him.


	40. Guard Duty

"I'm sorry, Xanxus-sama," Levi A. Than said, staring down at the ground in shame. "We were unable to lift any fingerprints off of the thermos we found on the rooftop, and the equipment we brought with us are not sophisticated enough to discern any DNA from the contents," he closed his eyes when he felt tears of shame burning at the corners of his eyes; not only had he failed in catching the assassin, but he had failed in finding a trace of him.

"We are sending samples back to Italy for further experimentation," he continued, dropping his chin down to touch his chest. "I understand if you wish to exterminate me for my failures."

"Get out of my sight, trash!" Xanxus ordered, chucking his glass at his subordinate's head; his red eyes matching his angry red face. "You're lucky you're needed for the Scramble tonight!"

Levi scurried out of the room, thanking his lucky stars that he still had his head firmly on his shoulders.

* * *

It was midnight again, and Reina was getting tired of it. Would it kill these guys to have their battles during the day? These night fights gave an unfair advantage to the Varia side considering the time difference between Italy and Japan, not to mention they had nothing to do during the day.

She had set up several motion sensors on the nearby streets leading to the school and had them set up to alert her via her Bluetooth headset, which she wore beneath a curtain of dark curls. She wore a crimson silk tank top with an angled hem with a pair of leather pants and glossy black stilettos with silver heels. On her right thigh she had her staff sectioned off into eight nine-inch cylinders set in an angled line along the holder strapped to her leg, and of course she had her trademark sunglasses on to obscure her face.

She stood with her arms crossed just outside of the main gate to Nami Chuu. She hated this, she hated this so much. Maybe it was the uncomfortable shoes…

Yeah, it was definitely the shoes.

She casually kicked of her heels and cracked her toes, relishing in the freedom from the restricting article of clothing. She groaned in annoyance not long after when one of the sensors went off, alerting her of approaching bodies larger than a stray dog. She muttered angrily as she slid her feet back into what she was convinced to be torture devices before turning to face the direction of the sensor that had been tripped.

Around a corner came five men, one of which was wrapped in bandages and was being pushed in a wheelchair. She already knew who it was, and if she thought she hated this before, then she _loathed_ it now. She frowned slightly as she waited for them to come closer, her hips cocked and hands on her hips.

"Bucking Horse," she said in an even tone when he stepped forward.

"Reina-chan," he acknowledge in the same tone.

"That's _La Reina_ to you," she snapped, glaring at him from behind her tinted glasses. "What's he doing here?" she demanded, motioning towards the bandaged man in the wheelchair with a jerk of her head.

"There was a summons for the battle tonight," Dino explained.

"Hn, a bit late for that," she grunted as she stepped aside, "not that I care; you all can go die as far as I'm concerned."

"So sweet," the blond chuckled like she had told a great joke while his men wheeled the injured man past her.

"You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I really do hope you die," she grunted as he too took his leave. "Or at least lose your memories."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later more people showed up, all dressed in suits bearing the Varia's crest. Reina smirked as the group of about fifty drew closer. This was going to be good.

"Can I help you?" she asked, allowing her hands to move down to her sides; her fingers dancing towards her staff.

"Heh, look at this, men," the one in front chuckled back to the others, "They have a little guard."

"Laugh while you still can," Reina's smirk grew, "because I'm going to puncture your windpipe with my heels."

The man apparently thought this was hilarious since he burst out in a fit of laughter. In the blink of an eye Reina closed the gap between them and drove her heel into the man's throat, puncturing his windpipe. She removed her heel with a spurt of blood and the man fell gurgling down to his knees.

"Who wants to try me next?" she asked, her smirk growing into a feral grin.

Reina wiped away the drops of blood that had splattered onto her face with the back of her hand, pausing for a moment to stare down the remaining suits that stared at her in a mixture of shock and terror. She twirled her staff in one hand as she surveyed the group, which one should she take out next? Decisions, decisions.

A cry of anguish came from the rear of the group, and bodies flew into the air. It looked like someone else had come to play. She bashed the nearest suit on the back of the head, sending him crashing to the ground with blood trickling from his new wound. Her next swing was caught by a woman with blond hair piled into a bun on top of her head. The woman smirked as if she had gained the upper hand, and Reina smirked back as she pressed the small indentation on her staff and waited.

The woman screamed and ripped her hand away, her hand practically sliced into three pieces by the three curved blades that dripped with blood protruding from the end of the staff. The suits surrounding her all took a step back as they gasped at the sight of their mutilated comrade. Reina spun, swinging her staff and each of the suits staggered backwards clutching at their bleeding chests.

From the corner of her eye Reina saw a group of three break away, running towards the school. She stopped and looked after them before turning back to where she had seen them leave from. A man stood there with a few drops of blood staining his crisp white shirt, but otherwise unscathed.

"I think you missed some," he said, an amused smirk crinkling the markings on his cheeks; tattoos, maybe?

"Oh no," Reina smirked back, "those came from your side."

"Hm," the man chuckled lightly as he slung a heavy chain over his shoulder, Reina's eyes followed the chain downwards to the large metal ball it was attached to. "I guess you're right," he agreed, "be right back."


	41. Strangers and Midnight Calls

Reina surveyed the piles of bodies with a sort of morbid satisfaction; another job well done. None of them were groaning, none of them were moving, none of them were breathing. All the signs of a completed task. She carefully stepped over one last pile of bodies and then it was a clear walk back to her house.

It was then that her headset started buzzing a special pattern. She stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the pattern. Why would Yoshiro be calling her?

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she answered the call.

"Yeah," he drawled slowly, "there's this guy here… and it's kinda hard to explain…" he trailed off.

"Use your words," she said calmly, though her heart was racing in her throat at the moment.

"He's kinda… sexually intimidating… and he's asking for you," he elongated his words like he was searching for the right ones. "Is he like… your boyfriend? Or something?"

"Yoshiro…" Reina wasn't sure if she should laugh or frown at the absurdness of what he was saying, so her face was stuck in a strange mix between the two. "Are you gay?" she finally decided to ask in a deadpan.

"No!" he denied quickly, "It's just hard to find the right description for him!"

"Well, keep it in your pants," she chuckled as she started walking faster to her home. "I'll be right there."

"How do you plan on doing that?" he demanded incredulously, "There are no trains running between where you are and here at this time of night."

"Simple, really," she smirked, "I ride."

* * *

The bike had originally belonged to Yoshiro, but he had left it behind in Namimori when he moved to Tokyo about five years ago. He had told Reina that if she could learn to ride it, she could have it; and learn to ride it she did.

She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face when the engine roared to life. Oh, how she loved that sound. It was the sound of the wind blowing through her hair and the freedom to go anywhere she pleased. It was the sound of everything she had ever wanted.

She rolled out of the garage and down the driveway until she got to the street. Then she switched into first gear, quickly followed by second and third as she sped away.

* * *

Reina went as fast as she could manage up the cement stairs of Yoshiro's apartment complex considering the shoes on her feet. She hadn't stopped to change out of the stilettos, but she had wiped the blood off of the silver heels to avoid suspicion. She hadn't actually wasted any time on changing; she had only grabbed a black leather jacket to protect her arms from the wind.

She didn't even knock when she reached his door; she knew he wouldn't have his door locked since he was expecting her. She froze as soon as she opened the door in a stunned silence. She had already guessed who the mystery guy was, but actually seeing him sitting on Yoshiro's couch solidified her assumption into reality.

"Yoshiro," she said calmly, not removing her gaze from the male, "I think it would be best if you left."

She was vaguely aware of his nod of agreement or of him leaving the room; she was still watching the man on the couch intently. He had shaggy brown hair now, but his eyes were still the same blue.

"Guy," she greeted tersely.

"I've always known you were hiding something," he said in French as he rose from his seat. "But I never imagined it was anything like this."

"What did you think I was hiding?" she asked in the same language, stepping into the apartment and shutting the door firmly behind her.

"I always thought you were some kind of model or something," he admitted, looking her up and down, "that's why you would refuse to officially join the Association; you didn't want to lose your career before you hit your peak. Never in a million years would I even consider the possibility that you were pretending to be a normal person."

Reina remained silent, painfully aware that she had decided to forgo her sunglasses; they were useless since he already knew who she was.

"You should know," he started, stepping closer to her, "your cover has been blown. There's a Mafia family looking for one Soto Reina." She stiffened a bit when he said this. "Though to your credit, the only place she exists is at the Namimori Middle School."

"Have you come here to bring me in?" she asked faintly with her eyes firmly on the black V-neck covering his chest.

"No," he answered just as softly as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm here to plead with you." Her eye flicked up to his face now. "Use that to your advantage, disappear. Join our ranks and you'll never have to worry about—"

"No!" she cut him off as she broke out of his hold. "If I've told you once then I've told you a thousand times! No!"

"Why not?" he demanded, his hands now balling into fists.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want that kind of life?" she sighed, her shoulders falling a bit in exasperation. "Did you ever think that I did what I did not because I wanted to, but because I had to?"

"What are you talking about?" it was Guy's turn to sigh now. "You never _had_ to do anything."

"If only you knew," she shook her head. "Not everyone chooses to become like us… guns for hire… some of us had no choice. It was either this or dying in the street for me," she watched shock fill his features at this.

"Reina," he breathed, "why, then? You've earned enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life, why do you still do it then?

"Because once you're in, the only way out is death," she clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "I refuse to die before the one who forced me into this."

"The Director?" he asked carefully.

"No, I owe him only gratitude," she said, squaring her shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "You've done what you've come to do," her tone was all business now and left no room for argument. "I suggest you leave."

"Yes," he agreed, his voice held just a hint of defeat, "I have a flight to catch."

* * *

Yoshiro stood with his ear pressed against the tiny crack between the door jam and the door. He knew that this was a very personal thing for Reina, but no matter what he still viewed her as a little sister of sorts and it was his job as her older brother to look out for her. She was speaking to the mystery man in French, and even though he didn't understand the language himself, he could glean enough from the tone she was using.

The man had probably asked her why she didn't work full time, a question he had asked her many times since she had first reappeared three years earlier. She responded the same way she always did, in a kind of exhausted tone. Then their conversation grew soft and he head to strain his hearing to catch a few lines of dialogue. He guessed that she ended the conversation when he heard the door open and the click of her heels drawing closer to the door he was standing behind.

He stepped out of the small hallway he had been in before she could open the door and catch him eavesdropping and carefully studied her face. She looked extremely tired, her shoulders slumped and her eyes simply stared at him.

"You're staying here tonight," he decided for her, "we can argue about it in the morning."

* * *

Extra: Yoshiro and Guy

"So," Yoshiro drug the last letter out for a few seconds longer than needed as he looked over the stranger sitting on his couch. "Can I at least know your name?" he asked just before the pause got awkward.

The man eyed him with a bored expression from behind wavy brown bangs.

"No," he said after a long moment.

Yoshiro felt his eye twitch a bit at this. God, he hoped Reina got here soon.


	42. A Deal With the Devil

When Reina awoke the next morning she found the tiny apartment empty aside from herself. When she wandered into the kitchen area she found a note stuck to the refrigerator with her name on it. That was never a good sign. The note read something like this:

**Reina,**

**We need to talk** – also never a good sign – **I'll be back from my interview around six with dinner.**

**Yoshiro**

Well, today was shaping up to be a fun day…

She glanced over to the clock hanging on the wall; it was 11:35 am.

"What does he expect me to do for _seven_ hours?" she asked aloud, letting her head hang slightly.

"You could always talk," a high voice suggested.

"Let it not be said that you aren't tenacious," she sighed heavily, her head now hanging so her chin was touching her chest.

"I like to think it's one of my better qualities."

"You must not have many good qualities then," she muttered to herself before turning to face the squeaky voice she had come to hate.

"You should know," Reborn started as he jumped onto the counter in front of her. "Dame-Tsuna won the Ring Battle."

"Please, allow me to find a container for my excitement," Reina drawled flatly as she leaned back against the refrigerator with her arms crossed over her chest.

"That means he's set to be the next Boss of the Vongola Famiglia."

"That's what one would guess it meant."

"I know you're not too keen on working for any kind of Famiglia," he started carefully, his eyes trained on hers to catch her reaction, "but how would you feel about working for Tsuna?"

Her only visible reaction was the arching of one eyebrow.

"What makes you think I would agree to that?" she asked.

"You want to protect him," he reasoned, "what better way to do that from within the ranks of his Famiglia?"

"I can easily think of ten better ways," she snorted, "and all of them don't include me declaring allegiance to anyone."

"If that's the issue then you can be his external advisor, then you wouldn't officially be aligned with the Vongola."

"But people would still know what side I'm on when push comes to shove," she sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but if you're here to try to convince me to join up with you then you should leave; the answer is no."

"Fine," Reborn frowned slightly, "if you refuse to join us then will you at least train Tsuna and his Guardians?"

"Don't you already have people to do that?" Reina asked, mirroring the baby's expression.

"Yes," he admitted, "but you have more recent field experience than they do, and due to your unaligned status you can teach them how to survive if they ever get cut off from their allies."

Reina was silent for a long moment as she considered this.

"Fine," she said finally, meeting his black eyes, "but I get paid whatever you get paid for whatever it is you do."

"Deal," he agreed with a smirk.

* * *

The clock read 7:45 and still there was no sign of Yoshiro. A seed of worry had planted itself inside Reina's gut and was growing rapidly as the seconds ticked by. She was about to go out and look for him when the door opened.

"Sorry I'm late," Yoshiro's familiar voice called out into the apartment. "There was an accident and everyone decided to stop and stare."

"Oh, you're back," Reina said with false coolness in her voice, "I guess I'll have to cancel the party I was planning…"

"Ha ha," the older man rolled his eyes at her, "just admit it, you were getting worried about me."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she frowned up at him. "Where's this food you promised me?"

"Right here," he grinned as he held up a plastic bag. "There's a great Italian place a few blocks over."

"Ugh," Reina groaned, "I think I've had enough Italian to last me for a good, long while." In the past week alone she had seen who knows how many of the countrymen.

"Sucks," Yoshiro said unapologetically as he set the bag down on the kitchen counter, "'cause that's what we're having."

"So," she drug out the last syllable as she watched Yoshiro begin to unpack the bag.

"So, what?" he asked as he pushed a to-go box towards her.

"You said we needed to talk," she reminded him as she opened the box.

She was greeted by a cloud of steam rising from the noodles covered with a red sauce. She counted five meatballs nestled in the pasta and one slice of garlic bread in the corner.

"I did," he acknowledged, already chewing on his first bite of food. "Who was that guy last night?" he asked after swallowing. "I don't need a name or anything; I just want to know his relation to you."

"He's... a work friend," she said, making a face at the term she had used.

"Oh, good," he hummed as he twirled his fork loosely in his hand. "It's always nice to hang out with a killer."

"Then I guess I should stop coming over," she said softly, nudging a meatball with her fork.

"Reina," he sighed, setting his utensil down, "you know what I mean. Don't be like that."

"Like what?" she asked with a frown, still looking down at her food.

"That," he said, gesturing at her. "Stop being all gloomy; I was only joking."

"We need to work on your sense of humor," she sniffed, finally taking a bite of food.

"So people tell me," he drawled, watching her toy with her food. "I feel like something important happened while I was gone. Did something important happen while I was gone?" he asked with a slight frown.

"I was able to work something out to where I can stay in one place for longer than a week before going out on a new job," she shrugged, trying to phrase her earlier agreement in the vaguest terms she could.

"With who?" Yoshiro frowned in confusion, "The Devil?"

"Yeah," Reina shrugged, "let's go with that."


	43. Surprise!

"I have a surprise for you, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn smirked into his cup of espresso as he watched his student move his cereal around its bowl.

The boy cringed at the thought of a surprise from the hitman turned tutor; it could only end in tears for him. Or sever injuries. Tears and sever injuries.

"What," the middle schooler gulped, "what is it?"

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you now, would it?" Reborn's smirk grew to devious proportions.

Tsuna shuddered as a thousand dangerous possibilities ran through his mind. Most of them had to do with spikes. Spikes, and possibly lasers. But mostly spikes.

"Hurry up and eat, Dame-Tsuna," the infant ordered, driving a tiny foot into the boy's head and in turn shoved his face into the almost empty cereal bowl. "We're meeting you Famiglia at Nami Chuu in fifteen minutes."

"Eh? Why?" Tsuna spluttered half from shock and half from the milk in his nose.

"It's a part of the surprise," Reborn's black eyes glittered with a light that Tsuna knew could only mean trouble for him.

* * *

Tsuna looked around at the group nervously. He was comfortable around most of them; he considered Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei friends, he lived with Lambo so he didn't really have a choice with that, and he was wary of Chrome due to her likeness to and association with Mukuro. No, it was the fact that his neighbor was there, standing with her arms crossed and watching them, judging them. He shifted once again under her intense gaze, praying for it to move on to another. The fact that they were trespassing on school grounds as well did nothing for his nerves, he was expecting Hibari to come and "bite" them all "to death" at any moment.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he felt her gaze move away from him to linger on someone else. He now felt brave enough to chance a peak over at the imposing figure cut by the brunette. Her hair had been pulled back into a bun, though some rebellious strands had fallen free and now danced in front of her face and around her neck, and he noticed how the sunlight caught on three small piercings on the forward part of her right ear. He briefly glanced at her eyes, and even though she wasn't looking at him he still felt a jolt of fear shoot down his spine, so he quickly moved on. Her skin was still the same light tan as it was during the summer, and her light green running shorts and loose white shirt displayed it well. He briefly wondered why she had her feet wrapped instead of wearing shoes to protect against who knows what was on the ground.

"So," she started, snapping Tsuna's attention away from his musings. "Reborn wants me to teach you losers how to survive in your own." She shifted her weight onto one leg and cocked her hips. "But honestly, I don't think you're worth the trouble."

"Tch, why should we care what you think, woman?" Gokudera scoffed.

Even though her gaze hadn't been turned on him, Tsuna still withered under it.

"You should definitely care what she thinks, Gokudera-kun," Reborn piped up before she could retort. "Haven't you ever heard of La Reina?"

"Ha ha, what's that?" Yamamoto laughed in his usual manner. "Some kind of new game?"

"Eh?!" Gokudera gaped, "You mean that militant who brought down the Passera Famiglia?! She can't possibly be the same person!"

"THAT'S SO EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled as he pumped a fist into the air, "YOU SHOULD JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!"

Tsuna could only gulp the thick lump that had lodged itself in his throat. Was she really that dangerous? Now his fear of her seemed completely logical.

"Oh?" Reina arched an eyebrow, "what makes you say that? Did you expect me to be taller or something?"

"No!" the silver haired bomber spluttered, "I just… What're you doing in Namimori?"

"I recruited her, of course," Reborn explained as he jumped onto Reina's shoulder.

"Sure," she grunted as she leaned her head away from her new passenger, "just keep telling yourself that."

"So what do we have to do to make you think that we're worth it?" Yamamoto asked, a spark of excitement had ignited in is brown eyes.

"Simple," she said with a smirk, clearly sending them all a challenge, "you have 24 hours to hit me and draw blood."

"Eh?!" Tsuna squawked, flailing his arms as well, "You can't possibly mean to fight all of us!"

"What's it matter to you?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"There's six of us and only one of you!" he protested, trying to end this insanity before it started. "It's not fair!"

"I can assure you that is not a problem," she snorted with a wave of her hand, "You only have yourselves and your weapons," she said, eyeing the trident that Chrome held tightly, "while I have years of experience on my side, and I can safely say that it dwarfs any advantage you might think your numbers gives you."

"Okay," Gokudera said with an almost giddy edge in his voice, "we have a day, any other rules?"

"You can use any kind of weapon you can find" Tsuna paled at this, she couldn't possibly be serious! "and all of Namimori is the battle ground as of right now," she said with a smirk. "Good luck, you'll need it."

Tsuna began to sweat heavily; he could feel the vibes coming from his two closest friends, it was just like before the Ring Battles all over again! Why were they so eager to fight against such a strong, and not to mention scary, opponent? Was he the only sane one here?


	44. Reina Vs Gokudera

Gokudera was the first to attack. He charged forward with a battle cry and a fist full of dynamite with the fuses already lit. Reina watched without an ounce of interest in her expression as the explosives flew through the air towards her and landed at her feet.

"Oh no," she yawned as she kicked the nearest stick away from her. "Dynamite; whatever shall I do?"

Then the fuses ran out and multiple explosions rocked the ground, a thick cloud of dust erupting from the small craters that had formed. The breeze caught the dirt in the air and moved the cloud over the group, clogging their noses, eyes, and throats with dust and causing them all to choke.

"Did you get her?" Yamamoto asked between coughs.

"I'm not sure," Gokudera wheezed back, "I can't see a thing!"

"Rule number one," Reina's voice came from the middle of the group, "all ways be aware of your environment."

Her words were followed by a solid thunk and then the sound of someone falling to the ground gasping for air. When the dust finally cleared Gokudera was curled in the fetal position gaping like a fish, but there was no sign of Reina. Ryohei was the first to spot her, and he gave a wordless shout as he pointed towards the main gates.

"Like I said," she called out to them, "you're going to need some luck!"

She took off down the street, and before any of them could give chase a chilling presence settled over them. They all turned slowly then froze completely at what they saw. Hibari stood in all his rule-enforcing glory surveying the damage that had been done to the courtyard.

"Herbivores," he growled in a deadly tone, "for trespassing and destroying school property, I will bite you to death."

* * *

Reina muttered to herself as she paused for a moment to lean up against a brick wall. She had stepped on either a shard of glass of a pebble that had lodged itself in her foot, either way it was a pain in the neck. As luck would have it, sometime in the past someone had decided that it would be a good idea to smash a bottle on the sidewalk and just walk away, and now in the present Reina had ran through said smashed bottle and now had bright red blood oozing out of cuts on her foot. She cursed darkly as she began to pick the pieces of glass out of her skin, but she had to acknowledge that she had expected something like this to happen since she wasn't wearing shoes.

"Say, Reina-chan," Reborn's voice came from beside her, "how about we make this more interesting?"

"How so?" she asked without looking up, wiping away the blood to reveal new pink skin.

"If Tsuna's Famiglia succeeds" she snorted in laughter at the notion "you answer some questions truthfully."

"Truly, you are a curious soul," she shook her head, finally looking at the baby. "Alright," she agreed, "but they ask the questions."

"But of course," he smirked, "I wouldn't expect any different."

"You better have them step up their game if you want those answers," she advised as she stretched her hands up above her head. "As it stands right now they don't stand a chance."

"I wouldn't be so quick to say things like that," Reborn said, his smirk growing a bit. "Don't forget, they have Hibari on their side."

"Don't let him hear you say that," she snorted, "he might take offense to it."

Movement on the edge of her vision caught Reina's attention. She glanced towards it and saw Gokudera running down the street towards her with an angry scowl etched onto his pale face. She gave a slight nod to Reborn before taking off again, this time down an alleyway where she leapt up and began to climb a fire escape. Once she got to the roof she didn't even stop to check if she had been followed in her ascent before taking a running leap to an adjacent rooftop.

She traveled like that for two or three more buildings before she just sat down with her back against an air conditioning unit and closed her eyes. If there was one thing that she had learned in all her years it was that people usually didn't check random rooftops unless they were truly dedicated, and she could tell that this group was quite at that level yet. It didn't take long for her to drift off into a light sleep; she figured that she could squeeze in a few hours before they even realized that there was a possibility that she was up there.

* * *

When she woke up she guessed it was around three in the afternoon, about four hours after the challenge had started. She stood up with a groan and popped the stiff joints in her back. Maybe she should go down and see if she could find something to eat. Her stomach growled in agreement as she began to descend to street level.

It was by a pure stroke of luck that Gokudera happened to be passing by that exact building at the exact time that Reina reached the ground.

"You!" he called out when he saw her, preparing a few sticks of his explosives to throw.

"Me?" she asked with faux innocence as she quickly stepped closer to him. Only an idiot would risk blowing himself up along with his target.

She saw the way the he tried to keep a set distance between them, but she was too quick for his fumbling backwards steps and she was on him in a heartbeat. She grabbed the wrist of the hand that held his dynamite and twisted it harshly. She continued to twist until she had his arm pinned behind his back and his face pressed up against a wall.

"You shouldn't feel too bad," she patronized, "it's not your fault that you suck at close combat. Oh wait, yes it is."

He growled in response and tried to shake her off of him, but failed.

"Just remember something, Gokudera," she said, tightening her grip and twisting his arm a bit more, "you may think that you're better off on your own, but a pack can take down bigger prey than a lone wolf."

And with that she released him, quickly disappearing into a throng of pedestrians.


	45. Reina Vs Lambo

Reina's next stop was the park; she figured that there'd be some vendors there who'd be selling food of some kind for cheap. There weren't many people there since it was the heat of the day, but she could faintly hear people cheering in the distance; probably a little league game. She stopped at the first stall she found and purchased an American hotdog. Not her favorite meal, but it would quiet her protesting stomach for now. She had barely taken a bite when she felt an odd sensation on her leg; she looked down and found Lambo beating against her calf with his tiny fists with a determined look on his face.

"Can I help you?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Reborn-baka said if I beat you then you would play with me!" the five-year-old said, keeping up his barrage on her leg. "So The Great Lambo-san will defeat you so you will play with me!"

"Yeah, no," she snorted as she nudged the boy away from her.

"Why not?" the boy pouted.

"You're what, five? Come back in ten years and then maybe you'll have a chance," she advised, turning away from him as she took another bite of her hotdog.

Lambo started wailing behind her, but Reina ignored him. Then she heard the click of a trigger being pulled and she froze, just waiting for the bullet she was certain would follow. But it never came. She turned around slowly expecting to see the barrel of a gun pointed at her; she was in no way prepared for what she saw instead.

A teenage boy was standing in front of her looking around in a bewildered manner, and Reina was sure that her expression matched his. He wore a cow-printed collared shirt tucked into a pair of khaki pants held up with a brown leather belt with a large silver buckle shaped like a cow's skull. When his green eyes found her a new expression crossed his face; a strange mix of apprehension and delight.

"Reina-nee!" he cheered as he launched himself towards her.

Well… she hadn't been expecting that…

She tried to take a step backwards out of his range, but he still managed to wrap his arms around her waist and burry his face in her chest. This threw her off balance and sent both of them to the ground, Reina taking the brunt of the fall.

"I've missed you so much!" the boy wailed as he started to nuzzle her breast.

"What the Hell?!" she shrieked as blood began to rush to her face. "Get the fuck off of me! Pervert!" she ordered as she tried to shove him off of her.

"Ah, good old Reina," the boy sighed to himself as a blissful smile crossed his face. "You even smell the same! Ha ha, imagine that!"

"What're you on about?" Reina grunted as she tried to pry his arms off of her. "And who are you?"

"Ah! That's right," the boy said as he finally let go of her, "you're not very familiar with the Ten Year Bazooka yet."

"The what?" she blinked at him, still sitting on the ground.

"I'm Lambo," the boy introduced himself, "from ten years in the future."

"Lambo?" she repeated in a disbelieving tone, "you mean to tell me that you're that annoying brat from next door?"

The stricken look that crossed the boy's face was almost comical, and it would've been if it hadn't been for the river of tears flowing from his eyes it had been paired with.

"Yep, you're Reina-nee alright," he sobbed into his knees which he had brought up to his chin, "still as mean as ever."

"I swear," Reina started as she got to her feet, "you are going to start making sense right now, or I will—"

"You always did like I-pin more than me…" he sighed, cutting off her oath. "I guess that's to be expected though," he continued with a wistful smile, "the younger me was quite a pest to you."

"You're telling me," she snorted, crossing her arms, "being asked to play every time you step outside gets old after the first few days."

"But can you blame me?" the boy asked, looking up at her now. "You always seemed so far away, like the biggest prize at a carnival, and every time you said yes it was like I got closer and closer."

"What're you on about now?" she sighed in exasperation.

"The younger me idolized you quite a bit," he admitted with a faint blush, "I still do."

"Are you trying to tell me that you love me?" Reina dead panned with a blank expression, "Because if you are then the answer is no, I don't want to be branded as a pedophile."

"Wha-what?" he spluttered, "No! Not that!" he said as he waved his hands around, "I was just saying that I look up to you! That's all!"

"Well, so long as I'm not wearing a skirt when you look up to me I don't care," she said.

"Ha ha! You haven't changed at all!" he threw his head back and laughed. "Before I go I just want to say," he started in a serious voice, "I understand why you did what you did and, well, thank you. Thank you for making the hard decisions that nobody else wanted to."

"What," Reina frowned, her bows knitting together as her mind raced through all the decisions that she had ever made, "what're you talking about?"

"In the future," he started, but then a cloud of pink smoke erupted around him, and when it cleared the Lambo she had come to know and mildly tolerate was sitting on the ground before her. When he looked up at her she thought he was going to start crying again, but instead a huge grin broke out on his face and he launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around one of her knees.

"¡Oye! What're you doing?" she grunted as she grabbed a hold of the tail attached to the back of his onesie, trying to pull him off of her.

"Yay! Higher!" the boy cheered as his grip tightened around her leg. "Lambo-san wants to go higher!"

"What the," she grunted as she hopped around on one leg, the one with Lambo attached to it raised into the air so she could get a better grip on the child. "Let go of me, you freak!"


	46. Reina Vs Yamamoto

_This is absurd_, Reina muttered internally as she pushed Lambo half-heartedly on a swing.

The boy, however, appeared to be having the time of his life.

"Faster, faster!" he cheered, bouncing giddily on the seat as he clutched the chains suspending him off the ground.

Reina only grunted in response and kept the same pace. Well, at least it was killing time…

"Ha ha, there you are!" a familiar laugh rang out across the empty park followed by the sound of jogging footsteps coming closer.

"No I'm not," she frowned, intent on pushing the swing and ignoring the boy that now stood about a three meters in front of her. "I'm a figment of your imagination."

"Ha ha, you're so funny, Soto-san!"

"If you liked that the just wait until you see my next trick," Reina's frown turned into a smirk. "Think fast!" she ordered as she shoved the swing easily fifteen times harder than she had been.

Lambo, being unprepared for this, lost his grip on the chains and went sailing through the air.

"Woah!" Yamamoto shouted in surprise as he backed up a bit so he could catch the airborne child. "Got ya!" he smiled down at the boy now resting in his arms.

"Again!" Lambo cheered, trying to free himself so he could return to the swing for round two.

"Ha ha, sorry, kid," Yamamoto grinned as he let Lambo go, "Soto-san already agreed that she would play with me next."

"I said no such thing!" Reina's indignant shout came from the left, and when the boys looked they saw her seated on top of the monkey bars with her arms and legs crossed.

The carefree smile left Yamamoto's face for a fraction of a second and was replaced by an almost blood thirsty expression that could rival Hibari's. This expression then mixed with his usual smile and resulted in an intimidating gleam dancing where his usual cheer would be.

"Hey! Get down and play with me!" Lambo shouted, jumping as high as he could in an attempt to reach her with his arms stretched upwards.

"Get lost, kid," she said, looking down her nose at the small boy.

Lambo's eyes widened and tears started pooling on his lower lids. He stuck out his lower lip into a pout that began to twitch slightly after a few seconds.

"Maybe later," she added after watching his quivering face for a moment.

The boy's face lit up, and Reina wasn't sure if it was because of what she said or because of the squirrel that had just scampered across the ground in front of him. She was going to go with the squirrel since he started to chase after the rodent and even tried to follow it up a tree. She observed this with a disinterested gaze which she turned back onto Yamamoto when the five-year-old got bored and wandered off.

"I have to admit," she said, resting an elbow on a knee and her chin in her hand, "you must be the first person that I've ever met that's been excited to get their ass kicked."

"What makes you so sure that you won't be the one getting beat?" he asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"The fact that you haven't attacked me yet is a pretty good indicator," she drawled.

"I just wanted you to be prepared."

"Ha! Good one," she snorted, lifting her chin and letting her hand dangle between her crossed ankles. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you want to be friends."

"But—"

"I don't have friends," she cut him off, her eyes narrowed dangerously, "just people who haven't betrayed me yet."

"That's no way to live," he remarked with a small frown.

"Welcome to the world."

"Then I'll prove it to you!" he decided, a determined look on his face. "If I beat you then you have to agree to be my friend!"

"Like that's ever going to happen," Reina rolled her eyes, willing for something interesting to happen, "now are you going to attack? Or do you intend talk me to death?"

"Well, if you're so eager…" Yamamoto said as he drew the kendo sword he had on his back.

"I am," she smirked as she crossed her arms and waited on her perch.

He charged at her and jumped, swinging his sword downwards on top of her. At least, that's what he had been planning on. Instead a dull clang echoed around the park when his wooden sword hit the thick metal bar of the play-scape.

"Missed me," Reina goaded him; her smirk had grown into a grin of Cheshire proportions.

She had slipped between two of the bars and now hung on to them as she dangled in front of him, her feet centimeters off the ground. She brought her knees up to her chest before shooting her feet out, aiming to catch him in the chest. He managed to dodge at the last moment, but her feet still impacted against his shoulder. A sort of cracking sound filled the air as he stumbled back, stunned.

"Oops, clumsy me," she said with faux innocence, her eyes on the new deformity he sported thanks to his freshly broken clavicle.

"Wow, Soto-san really is strong," he noted, preparing to strike again.

Reina continued to hang, waiting to see what he would do. She saw the way he winced when he tried to use his left arm to grip his sword, but that didn't seem to be enough to stop him as he charged her again. She batted his weaker swing away with a foot and deflected his other hits in a similar fashion.

"Come on! Swing like you mean it!" she jeered, this time grabbing his blade between her feet. "You won't be able to cut me if you keep this up!" she told him, twisting the bamboo out of his grip and tossed it into the air before kicking it away.

"Here's a bit of advice," she started as she let go of the bars and landed on the ground in a crouch, "you stand a better chance of beating me with your little friends."

She then took off in a run out of the park.


	47. Reina Vs Chrome

Tsuna, Gokudera, and Ryohei were seated in a small circle in a local clinic's waiting room. Yamamoto had found them soon after his fight with Reina, and they had rushed him off to an emergency room before he could tell them much past that. Needless to say, Tsuna appeared to be the only one who was fazed at all by the predicament they had found themselves in. Why were all his friends so eager to fight?

"Ah! This is such a crazy situation!" Tsuna groaned.

"IT'S SO EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled, "DO YOU THINK IF WE BEAT HER SHE'LL JOIN THE BOXING CLUB?"

"Let's just concentrate on beating her first, Lawn-head," Gokudera growled with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression, "and even if we do manage to beat her, I don't think she'll be willing to join the Vongola."

"What makes you say that, Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna gulped, almost afraid to hear the answer. Actually, scratch that; he was afraid to hear the answer.

"As far as anyone can tell, La Reina's loyalties lie with herself," the silver-haired teen started with a slight frown. "She has taken down Mafia Famiglias, making one think that she was working for some kind of government agency, but she has also brought down political entities, which is where the debate begins. For the past few years some Famiglias have claimed that she works for them, but they're all disproven in the end."

"That's so extreme," Ryohei whispered for possibly the first time since Tsuna had met him. "SHE SHOULD DEFINITELY JOIN THE BOXING CLUB NOW!"

"DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO A WORD I'VE SAID, YOU STUPID LAWN-HEAD?!" Gokudera roared at the older teen.

"So, what does that make her?" Tsuna asked in a quivering voice.

"I don't know," Gokudera admitted, "but I think it's safe to say that she's agreed to do this for very specific reasons; maybe to take out the next generation of the Vongola before we become too powerful."

Tsuna felt his blood run cold at this statement. This was all purely speculative, right? His neighbor might be mean and pick on him at times, but she wouldn't _kill _him, would she?

"Tch, don't go saying such things, Gokudera!" Reborn's annoyed growl cut through any more frantic thoughts Tsuna might have.

"Why not?" he asked, "You saw what she did to the Baseball Idiot, what's keeping her from doing worse to the rest of us?"

"You know the most about her, so tell me: what do all of the people she's killed have in common?" the baby asked with a knowing smirk.

"I don't know; some paid her to take them out?" Gokudera frowned.

"Wrong!" Reborn said, kicking the Hurricane bomb in the head, "They were all older than her, you guys are safe since you're all younger than she is."

"But she still hurt Yamamoto-kun really bad," Tsuna argued.

"True," he conceded, "but she won't kill you; just incapacitate you."

_That's not very comforting!_ Tsuna thought as a look of horror crossed his face.

"We should stick together," Ryohei said with a nod; a surprisingly level-headed suggestion from the teen.

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed as Gokudera gave a sullen nod. "Wait, where's Chrome-san and Lambo?"

"You don't have to worry about that Idiot Cow," Reborn scoffed, "she flat out refused to fight him."

"Okay, but what about Chrome-san?" Tsuna pressed, "And should we tell Hibari-san?"

* * *

Reina walked calmly down a secluded street, she guessed that it was now close to seven o'clock so most people would be eating dinner around this time. A few meters down the street at an intersection someone stood in her way, as if he or she was waiting for her. As she drew closer Reina recognized this person as the so-called Mist Guardian.

"Uh… hello," she said in mild confusion when the girl didn't move or say anything.

The girl squeaked, her one visible eye widening in shock before she cowered behind the trident she gripped so tightly in her hands.

"I… I don't…" Reina stuttered, "I can't… I don't even… what… what are… what are you doing?" she asked finally after a few false starts on her question. "What is this?" she gestured to the girl. "Nagi?" she asked, taking a closer look at the girl.

The girl whimpered something before she ran off down the street and away from her. Reina stood for a few moments as her brain tried to process what had just happened.

"Okay," she drew out the first letter as she continued to stare off in the direction that the girl had run, "that was weird."

She continued on her way, glancing back over her shoulder for a moment as if she expected the girl to come back. When she didn't Reina turned her head back to look forward as a familiar building loomed in the middle distance.

She hummed lightly to herself as she climbed up the wall surrounding the school; she figured that nobody would be on campus on a Saturday night. No one in their right mind at least. The grounds were deserted as she silently made her way over to the nearest building and walked in. The hallways were silent and cold as she walked down them, the tiles felt like ice against her bare feet. The stairwell was also silent as she made her way up to the roof. The roof, however, wasn't as empty as she thought it would be.

She knew that it was too late to turn around and leave when she pushed open the heavy door; he was looking right hat her so when she saw him, he saw her. She could only let the door close behind her when she stepped out onto the even, slightly warm concrete that was the rooftop.

"You have something of mine," she noted, remembering back to her missing staff, "I would like it back."

"Hn, it is a violation of the rules to have a weapon on campus, herbivore," Hibari growled back at her as he drew his tonfas from his jacket sleeves. "It has been confiscated by the Disciplinary Committee and will never be returned."

"Jackass!" she hissed as her eyes narrowed into a glare, "That one's my favorite! How can you expect me to fight with those second rate back-ups I have?"

"Hn, not my problem."

"It is now, you bastard!" Reina declared, "I'll fight you for it if I have to!"

This seemed to be a notion that appealed to him if the spark that ignited in his metallic eyes was anything to go by.

"Very well, herbivore," he smirked, "I will bite you to death."


	48. Reina Vs Hibari

Hibari had a sort of gleam in his eyes as he stalked closer to Reina. It was a gleam that she had learned meant that he felt that he was going to enjoy this. Reina kept her expression blank, though inside she was giddy as well.

She dodged his first strike, then his second, then his third. When the fourth came she rolled to the side creating more distance between them. Her eyes swept over the rooftop and landed on a spare piece of metal pipe lying discarded a few meters away. She dashed over to it, sliding a bit as she stooped down to pick it up, and turned around just in time to block Hibari's next swing.

The sharp clang of metal on metal echoed around the rooftop and Reina could feel the vibrations sweep down her arm and up into her shoulder. She groaned internally at this; she was sure that she was going to be sore in the morning. This was why she missed her favorite staff: it had been built to her specifications, and one of those was absorbing impacts so her arms weren't shaken out of their sockets every time she hit something solid.

As they continued to fight Reina had to push down the memories that came with the hollow metal clutched in her hands. She had to keep reminding herself where she was and what she was doing when she felt herself start slipping. There would be time enough for reminiscing later, or so she told herself; she knew for a fact that she wouldn't waste time walking down memory lane anytime soon.

_"Hey, you're pretty good with that thing. What's your name, kid?"_

Reina frowned, half due to the unwanted voice that had fought its way to the front of her mind and half because of the weighted chain that slid out of the end of Hibari's tonfas. She now had to dodge chains and spiked balls on top of the usual metal tubes. Fantastic.

_"That's weird name, I'll just call you Rei instead!"_

She growled in frustration as she blocked a hit only to have the ball and chain wrap around the pipe. She didn't notice when one of the spikes cut through the skin on her hand, but she did notice the dark red blood oozing out of said cut. Her face contorted into a snarl of rage before she twirled the pipe with the chain still wrapped around it. One of the links snapped and the chain unwound itself, clattering down onto the concrete.

"Herbivore," Hibari growled at her, "you'll pay for that."

"I look forward to it, Hibaka," Reina smirked back.

The attack she had been planning was cut off when the door leading up to the roof slammed open. Her eyes flicked from the prefect before her to the suspiciously vacant doorway behind him. A look of shock crossed her face when the small sticks of dynamite came arching out from inside and without pausing to think she dropped the pipe, grabbed two fistfuls of Hibari's shirt and threw both him and herself to the side. They thudded to the ground and Reina could feel the rough concrete tear at the exposed skin on her arm. Apparently it took Hibari less time to recover than her, because the next thing she knew she had been shoved onto her back and the prefect was straddling her with a tonfa pressed none too gently against her throat.

Any thoughts of struggling fled her mind when she felt the metal pressed against her skin. She remembered the spikes that had pierced her hand as if it was butter, and she wasn't willing to see how her windpipe would stand up against them. Of course, there was always the chance that he had different sets of tonfas that had different augmentations like she did with staffs, but the desire to test that theory refused to appear.

"Dead," he said with a triumphant look in his eyes.

"You got lucky," she spat back.

He simply smirked at her accusation, and it was then that she realized how close they were. Aside from the obvious closeness of their lower halves since he was sitting on her, he had placed an open palm against the rooftop beside her head and he was leaning down so much that she could feel his breath coming in light pants across her skin. She shifted a bit uncomfortably beneath him, but froze when she noticed his steely grey eyes darken significantly.

"Uh, Hibaka," she said in an almost whisper and had to suppress the blush that fought to rise into her cheeks when his eyes focused on her lips. "You've proven your point," she mentally cursed herself when her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips, "can you get off me now?"

Hibari grunted and shoved himself off of her as if her request had somehow insulted him. She sat up and groaned; she could feel the bruises forming underneath the sticky, warm feeling of blood coating most of her upper left arm. That was going to be fun to clean up. She could feel the prefects gaze on her as she gingerly pressed her hand against her injured side and hissed at the contact of her dirty hand on the open wound. If she had to guess she would say that she had scraped off a fair amount of skin from her bicep thanks to her little stunt, and maybe even a little off of her elbow and forearm.

"Herbivore," he caught her attention and she looked up at him with a pouting frown. "I expect a better fight next time," he said as he carelessly tossed a long cylinder at her.

Reina's eyes lit up as she reached out to catch it with her bloody hand. She almost lovingly ran her thumb across the small crown engraved onto the center, reveling in the familiar indentation.

"You can count on it," she grinned up at him, her hand tightening around her favored weapon.

"Juudaime! Juudaime! Did you see that?" Gokudera's voice came from inside the stairwell, "We did it!"

"EXTREME!"

"Herbivores," Hibari growled as he began to descend the stairs, "you're trespassing again and disrupting the peace, and for this I will bite you to death."

"HIIE!"


	49. To the Victors Goes the Spoils

Reina tried her best to keep from laughing as she watched the boys in front of her fumble with first aid supplies. They had fared far worse than she had against Hibari, so Reborn had suggested that they all go to the nurse's office to get their wounds taken care of. After taking care of her own injuries she had turned to help out the others, but was frozen in place by the sheer absurdity of the scene before her.

Yamamoto had been spared for the most part since he already had one arm in a sling, so he had taken it upon himself to bandage up his friends. The only flaw in this plan was that since he could only use one arm the wrappings had come out loose and sloppy; the gauze patch on Tsuna's cheek was hanging off by one corner.

"Yamamoto, stop," she sighed, catching the boys' attention, "if anything you're making it worse."

"Ha ha, yeah," he agreed with a sheepish grin, "I thought since Soto-san was doing it with only one hand then I could too, but I guess I'm not as good as you…"

"You're telling me," Gokudera grumbled through the cigarette he had clenched between his teeth.

"Come 'ere, Atún," she said, gesturing for him to come closer, "I'll fix yours first."

Tsuna visibly stiffened at this, and if anything he drew away from her.

"Okay then," Reina drew out the two words, "Sasgawa, ¡vete aquí!"

The blonde obediently moved to stand in front of her, though she suspected that he had no idea what she had said to him. She tutted softly to herself as she undid the bindings, allowing the bandaged to loosen and droop down around his elbow.

"He used the spikes, didn't he?" she asked as she wiped away the blood that rose to the surface of the wounds.

"YEAH, IT WAS EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted.

"If you say so," she made a face of mild disbelief, "I myself thought them to be kind of a pain."

"THAT'S SO EXTREME! YOU SHOULD JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!"

"Have you fought Hibari-san before, Soto-san?" Yamamoto asked.

Reina's gaze flicked up to meet Reborn's beady eyes, "Yes," she answered, keeping eye contact for a moment before looking back down at her self-appointed task.

"That one doesn't count," the baby declared with his black eyes narrowed at the brunette.

"I didn't say anything," she countered lightly as she began to rewrap Ryohei's arm.

"Reborn, what're you talking about?" Tsuna asked, confusion slightly knitting his brows.

"It's nothing, Atún," Reina cut off the Arcoballeno's answer. "Just a wager between two… shit, what _is_ our relationship?" she asked, looking back up at the baby with a slight smile. "We're not friends, and we're a bit past the acquaintance stage… colleagues, maybe?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Reborn smirked, "so long as you tell the truth."

"That's a mighty tall order," she mused as she tied off Ryohei's bandage, "you might have to buy me a few drinks first."

"Yes, well here that's only slightly illegal," the baby shot back.

"Even more reason for me to move to Morocco," she muttered under her breath as she shooed Ryohei away and motioned for Gokudera to step up next.

"Then why don't you?" the silver haired teen asked, looking down at her as she began to fix his bandages. "Move to Morocco," he clarified when she looked up at him with a questioning expression.

"I did," she said simply, returning her eyes to her work, "I lived in Casablanca for two years." _If you could call that living_, she scoffed in her head.

"Why'd you move here then?" Ryohei asked with a curious tilt of his head, "Is it because Namimori is so extreme?"

"No," Reina scoffed, "it's 'cause I don't have to pay rent and the landlord's not a creep."

When she finished with Gokudera she nudged him slightly and he moved away. A silence fell over the group as she redid Yamamoto's bandages and for a moment she thought she was in the clear as far as questions went, but she wasn't naïve enough to believe it. As she had guessed as soon as she was done with his bandages Yamamoto spoke up.

"How'd you get to be so good at first aid?" he asked as Tsuna reluctantly stepped up.

"I was a part of a street gang in China," she said, playing it off as it was a normal thing to say. She saw the way Tsuna stiffened and added with a mirthless laugh, "It was decided that I was too young and innocent to do any fighting so they taught me how to care for their wounds."

"How old were you?" Gokudera asked the question that she guessed was on everyone's mind.

"I was eight," she answered as her nimble fingers made quick work of the sloppy bandages.

"But Soto-san said that you were studying abroad," Tsuna countered wincing a bit as Reina ripped the square of gauze completely off his cheek.

"It should come to no surprise for you that he is a liar," she frowned. "He put me on that damn ship telling me that my father would be waiting for me at its destination – bastard didn't even tell me where it was going. Ended up putting all the containers it was carrying – including the one I had been stuffed in – on a train in Jinzhou bound for Heilongjiang. I was almost dead by the time they unpacked the containers and found me."

"That's terrible," Yamamoto gasped.

"What kind of person would do such a thing?" Gokudera frowned deeply.

"The same kind of person who would kidnap a five-year-old girl to use as leverage against her father and then never return her," her frown only grew the more she spoke. "Look, can we talk about something else? This topic is putting a serious damper on my already bad mood," she said as she placed the last strip of adhesive on Tsuna's cheek.

"Where did you learn to fight then?" Yamamoto asked, picking the new subject easily.

"One day I tried to pick the wrong pocket," she started with a faint smile, "or maybe it was the right one, now that I look back at it. At the time a rival gang had all but declared war on us and he offered to take me away from it all. Said he 'saw promise' in me, whatever that means," she chuckled as she shook her head.

"So he's the one who taught you how to fight?" Gokudera connected the dots.

"Yes," she confirmed, "but he was no more stable than the gang and eventually he had to go places where I could not follow. He made a temporary arrangement with a local Buddhist temple so I could stay there while he was away."

"Then how'd you get involved with… whatever it is you do?" Reborn finally piped up, asking her the question that she had been dreading.

"When I was twelve I met a new man," she said as she started to pick at the bandages on her left arm, "he said that if I did something for him then he could secure me safe passage out of China to wherever I wanted. What he asked me to do was no different than what I had already been doing; when my master was away I would sneak out of the temple and hunt down people who would make trouble in the area since the local police apparently couldn't. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"So you took him up on that offer?" the baby asked to which she nodded. "But you didn't have to keep doing… what _do_ you do?" he asked with a slight frown.

"I collect bounties on people I deem worth it," she answered, her mouth drawn into a flat line, "mostly people who remind me of Soto. Not all of us were blessed with parents with either the means or desire to care for us," she said with a pointed look at Reborn. "Speaking of which, you all should get home before your parents start to worry," her gaze shifted to rest on the boys. "You still have school tomorrow."

* * *

Translations:

¡vete aquí! - come here


	50. Mildly Depressing

Sweet tap dancing baby Jesus, I made it to chapter 50! I feel like I should do something to commemorate this achievement... any ideas? Feel free to tell me them through your favorite mode of communication, i.e. pm, review, carrier pigeon, smoke signals, anonymous letters typed with a 1950's typewriter for creepy charm, newspaper cuttings, interpretive dance, etc.

... Okay, I had a bit too much fun with that list. In all seriousness though, tell me what you think I should do! I was thinking about writing a oneshot or something like that, so tell me who you think it should be about and I'll put up a poll or something with the most suggested, or I'll decide on my own, you never know; I like to keep things suspenseful.

* * *

Reina like to think that the way she spent her evenings the same as any other girl her age, when she wasn't working that is. Stay up late, piddle around on the computer, and lie awake in her bed until she gave up on trying to sleep and just wait for morning. Tonight, though, she decided to break the cycle.

She had stumbled across an unopened bottle of Shōchū in the back of a cupboard earlier in the evening as she was searching for a set of clean chopsticks. Her quest was quickly forgotten as she held the bottle almost lovingly before she unscrewed the top and took a long pull from the glass. She didn't even make a face as the alcohol burned its way down her throat to settle in her stomach before a peasant heat bloomed in her chest.

She squinted down the neck of the bottle as she swirled its contents pensively; she was trying to figure out exactly how much of a stupor she could drink herself into and how long it would last. She guessed that if she downed the entire thing she would have trouble remembering what would happen between now and late the next morning. She decided that suited her just fine as she drank deeply again.

Her brain was already beginning to feel fuzzy as she took clumsy steps to the living room where she fell gracelessly onto the couch, careful not to spill a drop of the alcohol.

"You are a strange individual, Soto Reina," a voice chuckled, causing her to almost choke on her next swallow.

"What's this?" she slurred lightly as she squinted at the bleary figure sitting in the arm chair. "There'sh a… a piña, y está hablando."

"Kufufufufu, I can assure you Reina-chan, I am not a pineapple," the voice seemed a bit cross with her.

"Sure looks like one to me," she muttered to herself as she took another swig.

"Well, you are a bit inebriated, I'm sure you would think otherwise if you were sober."

"I am much too drunk to know what you just said," she grinned as she drained the remaining liquid from the bottle.

"You have a very interesting mind," the voice said, and the pineapple shifted as if it was considering her carefully. "It appears that my illusions can only affect you when you're a bit… intoxicated."

"Again with the big words," she groaned pressing the cool glass bottle to her hot forehead. "I'm just trying to get tanked here, and you keep talking Señor Piña. That's not very considerate on your part."

"Well, pardon me for wanting to learn more about someone who intrigues me," she imagined that the pineapple was smirking at her.

"Look, I'm flattered; really, I am. See? I'm even blushing," she said as she pointed to her face but ended up jabbing herself in the cheek with her finger, "but you're really not my type."

"That's okay; you're not my type either."

Reina got the distinct impression that the pineapple was laughing at her, which was strange since she knew for a fact that that pineapples didn't have vocal chords so they couldn't possibly laugh, or talk for that matter.

"Tell me somthin', Señor Piña," she sniffed, squinting at the bleary figure, "are you _really_ a pineapple, or are you just pulling my leg?"

"I already told you, Reina-chan," the pineapple sighed, "I'm no more of a pineapple than you are."

"Strange, I don't remember being a fruit this morning…"

"Let's move on."

"Do we _have_ to move? I'm already comfy here and I think I'll go to sleep," she hummed to herself as she shifted deeper into the couch cushions.

"Perhaps we should try again later," she could sense the pineapple frowning at her, which was strange since pineapples don't have faces, so it was physically impossible for them to frown.

"How much later?" she asked as her eyes slid shut, "Because I think I might sleep until tomorrow night…"

"I will see you again, Reina-chan."

"Okay, Señor Piña, don't get eaten."

* * *

The next morning came much too soon; or was it the afternoon? Regardless, the light streaming in through the cracks in the blinds was entirely too bright for Reina's eyes, and the noise coming from the kitchen was too loud for her ears. She groaned pitifully and rolled over, only to fall off the couch and land on her face.

"I was wondering when you'd get up," she recognized Yoshiro's voice through the pounding of her head.

"What are you doing here?" she moaned as she clutched her aching head and rolled onto her back, the world spinning violently beneath her.

"I made you some pho," he said as his face suddenly appeared over hers, "that is, if you think you can hold it down," he frowned a bit as he studied her closely.

"I'm fine," she grunted as she sat up a bit too quickly and almost fell back down. "Maybe not," she gasped as her stomach tried to heave itself up her throat.

"Has anyone told you that you're an idiot lately?" he sighed as he began to rub small circles on her back.

"Yeah, last night," Reina frowned a bit as she tried to remember exactly who, "I think it was a pineapple…"

Yoshiro just sighed in disappointment as he slid a bowl of steaming noodles and broth in front of her. She happily dug into the food presented to her, suddenly ravenous once her nausea dissipated.

"Why do you drink so much?" he asked after watching her scarf down her food for a few moments.

"I don't drink _that_ much," she managed to say through her noodles. "Okay, maybe to excess," she added with a bit of shame under his unconvinced stare.

"What you were drinking was meant for mixed drinks," he informed her as he picked up the empty bottle and turned it over in his hands. "Someone of your size should have died from alcohol poisoning after downing the entire half-liter bottle, so why? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

_Maybe._

The thought startled her, causing herself to choke on her food. She had never thought about it before; was she? Was she really just a scared little girl underneath all her show and bravado, searching for a way out?

_Maybe._

"I just…" she started after regaining control of her throat. "I don't want to remember," she confessed, finding her soup very interesting as she stirred the broth with her chopsticks. "Or at least, I don't want to remember remembering, you know?" she looked up into Yoshiro's dark eyes, searching for something. Understanding?

_Maybe._

He didn't say anything, there was nothing to say. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. She could feel the burn of tears behind her eyes so she leaned her head down against his shoulder so he wouldn't see.

"I'm not asking you to talk," he said softly as he started to smooth down her hair, "and I'm not going to promise you that things will get better with time. I can only tell you that when the world starts to get too big for your shoulders, I'll be there. When things start moving too fast, I'll be there. And when the walls start closing in, I'll be there too. You're my little sister, despite everything, and even though it pains me to say this as much as it pains you to hear it, I care about you."

"You're such a softie, Yoshi," she giggled as she buried her head into his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a long time, sitting on the floor. Neither of them said anything, though both could feel the hot tears spilling out of Reina's eyes despite the smile on her face.

* * *

Translations:

piña - pineapple

y está hablando - and it's talking

Señor Piña - Mr. Pineapple


	51. Siblings' Love

It was precisely 3:47 PM when the earthquake struck. Reina knew this because a power surge had come along with the tremors, freezing the microwave and oven clocks at that time. She also knew that there had been an earthquake because a lamp had fallen on her while she was trying to sleep off her hangover.

After roughly shoving the lampshade off of her face she looked around blearily, trying to get her bearings. She had just had the weirdest dream… there were boxes and rings, that talking pineapple, the mildly annoying prefect, Tsuna turned badass for some reason, and she was pretty sure she was pregnant at some point and then she gave birth to hedgehogs. Lots and lots of purple hedgehogs. Or was it the hedgehogs that had given birth to her? The details were beginning to blur as the dull throbbing of her head drowned everything out, but from what she could remember it was a very strange dream.

"Yoshiro!" she called out to the man she knew was stomping around upstairs.

"What?" his voice came down the stairs quickly followed by the sound of his heavy footsteps. "Did something break?"

"I have a headache," she whined as she clutched at her head.

"That sounds like a personal problem," he snorted and his footsteps faded back up the stairs.

"I hate you," she yelled up to him, "I hate you so much!"

She groaned as she rolled off the couch and stumbled through the living room on unsteady legs. She could feel the pressure intensify behind her eyes when the light reflected off of the tile floor of the kitchen, and she could only squint as she searched for a bottle of painkillers and pray that the feeling went away soon. She was vaguely aware of someone else in the room with her, but she ignored it thinking it was just Yoshiro making sure that she didn't take too many pills.

"You know, Yoshiro," she said as she popped the recommended dosage into her mouth, "despite what you may have been led to believe, I _can_ be mature and responsible at times."

"This is the second time you've called me that," a voice that definitely wasn't Yoshiro's pointed out, "Should I look into this person?"

"Uh…" she panicked momentarily and considered downing some more capsules for a split-second.

"Reina!" Yoshiro called out as he began to stomp down the stairs again. "I'm hungry! Let's order a pizza!"

"Only if you pay," she shot back, hoping to distract him from entering the kitchen until she could get rid of her unwanted visitor.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed in an almost whisper, turning her head so she could glare directly at the suit clad infant sitting on the stove.

"What? I can't visit a neighbor?" he asked with a smug look.

"If you're not out of here in ten seconds I'll light the burner underneath you and we'll have seared baby for dinner! I only hope the annoying food-borne," she growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Reina, who're you talking to?" Yoshiro asked as he strolled into the kitchen with a phone held loosely in his hand.

Everything seemed to freeze when his eyes landed on Reborn, but quickly started moving again a moment later.

"Were you having a conversation with… a baby?" he asked slowly, taking his time as he picked his words.

"Yes," she confirmed, a bit embarrassed by how ridiculous it seemed.

"Okay," he paused for a moment, "and is the baby speaking to you right now?" he asked in a cautious tone.

"No, I'm not crazy, you ass!" she seethed as she threw the bottle of pills at him.

"I didn't say that," he laughed as he blocked the bottle but was still peppered by its contents.

"For the record, I was speaking with Reina-chan earlier," Reborn piped up.

"I… did that baby just talk?" Yoshiro gaped, pointing a disbelieving finger at the baby.

"Yeah, but the real trick is getting him to shut up," she sent a pointed look at Reborn.

"Cute, Reina-chan."

"I try."

"Okay," Yoshiro interrupted, preventing them from going further, "as entertaining as your banter is, one of you has some explaining to do."

"I'm a hitman," Reborn declared before Reina could say anything.

"I… I got nothing," she sighed; she figured that it was better to say that the baby was a hitman instead of an Arcoballeno, she didn't even know if she could accurately explain what and Arcoballeno was.

"Right," Yoshiro scoffed, "and so long as we're giving fake titles here, I'm a Member of Parliament and Reina here is a foreign dignitary from Spanishland."

"Oh my gosh," Reina groaned, dragging an open palm across her face, "I think I'm going to catch stupid if I hang around you any longer…"

"You wound me, sister; right here," he pouted a bit as he patted his chest much higher than his heart.

"That's your shoulder, pandejo," she rolled her eyes.

"And that's where it hurts."

"See what I have to deal with?" she groaned, gesturing towards Yoshiro as she looked at Reborn with an exasperated expression. "I don't need any more idiots in my life."

"Well, if that's the way you feel about me," Yoshiro huffed, "then I'll just take my toys and leave!"

"Fine, get out of here," she grunted and waved her hand at him, "you know where the door is."

* * *

Reborn watched this exchange in fascination. If this was how she treated her brother then it was no wonder that Tsuna perceived her as a sort of heartless person. Most observers would have sworn that the two couldn't stand each other, but so was the nature of brother and sister. Or so he guessed, he wouldn't know, being an only child and all.

"I'm not buying you a pizza!" the older man yelled back over his shoulder as he stomped out the front door.

"Fine! I don't want any of your nasty food anyway!" she yelled back at him, to which he responded by slamming the door. "Gah! How that idiot graduated from middle school is beyond me," she muttered to herself with her arms crossed over her chest.

The infant tutor allowed a small smirk to cross his face. The Reina from ten years in the future hadn't said when or why she had joined the Vongola, but he was willing to bet that it was because of this; the siblings' love she shared with Yoshiro. If Reborn could convince him to join she was sure to follow soon after! Now, how would one recruit a grown man into a middle school student's Famiglia?


	52. Captured

Soto Hitoshi's world had shrunk dramatically in a manner of hours. One moment he was eating in an open air café in Paris and the next he was tied to a cold metal chair underneath a single bare light bulb. He was going to go out on a limb and assume that he had been drugged; the throbbing in his head and numb extremities supported this theory.

He heard a door creak open and he lifted his head to squint out at the darkness that seemed to be creeping back into the corners of his vision.

"It's been a while, Hitoshi-kun."

Wait… he knew that voice.

"Sawada Iemitsu," he croaked as a half-smile spread across his face, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"A mutual acquaintance wishes to speak with you."

"And when," he wheezed, suddenly finding the ropes binding his chest to the chair back a bit too tight, "when do I get to see this person."

"Patience," the door creaked open again, "I'm sure you'll get what's coming to you soon enough."

* * *

Out of the list of things that Reina had expected to happen, none of them had occurred today. First, Nana had asked her to watch the rambunctious trio of kids at currently lived with her, which of course she couldn't say no; who would deny the sweet woman anything? Heartless people, that's who.

Then she got a call from Nami Chuu saying that her "presence was requested" – see demanded – by the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee. At first she thought that there was some kind of problem that she was fit to solve, but then she thought about it realistically and decided that wasn't the case. She skipped that one; if the situation wasn't desperate enough for panicked knocking on her front door then it wasn't desperate enough for her to be there.

Then she got another call. At first she thought it was from Nami Chuu again and almost ignored it, but she answered it anyway. That was the most surprising thing. The call spurred her into action, and by action it's meant that she quickly returned the kids to the Sawada household before throwing on the first set of clothes that wasn't shorts and a t-shirt.

She was careful not to trip over the hems of her high-waisted black slacks as she stumbled down the hall, trying to put her heels on without slowing down. The stairs proved to be a challenge, and she ended up tripping into the wall. She groaned a bit as she tucked her purple satin shirt into her pants, pain would have to wait.

She barely paused to lock the front door behind her, and when she turned to face the street she saw a sleek black sedan waiting for her, just like it had been promised. She took up a dignified, though still fast pace to get to the vehicle when she noticed the suited man standing next to the rear passenger door.

"La Reina," the man acknowledged her with a stiff nod as he opened the door for her.

She returned the nod in confirmation and stepped into the car. It was darker inside the car so it took her vision a moment to adjust, and when it did she felt an eyebrow rise slightly at what she saw. It was a boy around her age sitting across from her. The first thing she noticed about him was his large blue eyes set into an honest-looking face. His sandy blonde hair fell down around his shoulders, dressing down the crisp suit he wore substantially.

"La Reina," he said as he sized her up.

Reina tilted her head slightly upwards in acknowledgement, but remained silent otherwise. The boy took the hint that she wasn't in the mood for conversation and signaled for the driver to go. She held the boy's gaze as the car pulled away, even if he couldn't see her eyes there was no way she was going to lose this staring contest.

* * *

The sedan pulled up to a high end building, either business or condos if she had to guess. The suited man from before opened the door and stood as still as a statue while Reina and the boy stepped out of the vehicle.

"This way," the boy directed, the Japanese that flowed from his lips was as stiff as his posture.

Reina followed silently and they passed through a set of sliding glass doors to a security check point. She quickly sized up the two men standing on either side of a metal detector and decided that they wouldn't be much of a problem if push came to shove.

"Sorry, miss," the one on her left said when they came closer, "you'll have to check any weapons you might have on you here."

"That won't do any good," a man's voice cut in, "she doesn't need a weapon to kill you."

Reina let a wolfish grin steal across her face and the two guards cringed and backed up ever so slightly. Having a reputation did have its perks at times. Her eyes flicked towards the elevators to see Iemitsu grinning at her as he walked up, his expensive looking shoes reflecting the fluorescent lights.

"La Reina," he said when he was just on the other side of the metal detector, "I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

"I'm sure you have," she replied, knowing exactly what he meant; he was hoping that after today she'd be willing to work with him and his organization. Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

"If you'll just follow me," he said, turning to walk back towards the elevators.

Reina followed him with a neutral expression as her heels clicked on the tile floor, but on the inside she was frowning. She hated elevators.

Thankfully the ride was short, but slightly tense; the only sound was the steady hum of the motors coupled with the faint music that was supposed to soothe. It wasn't having the intended effect on Reina. Just as the walls seemed to be closing in on her the doors slid open with a soft ding and relatively fresh air flowed in.

She did her best to hide the eagerness in her step as she practically leapt out of the box, but she knew that at least Iemitsu noticed. She was grateful that he didn't say anything, but instead ushered her forward down a long cement hallway.

This, she could deal with.

The walls weren't too close together and there was a steady stream of cool air pumped in through the ventilation system. She shoved those thoughts out of her head as they came upon a heavy metal door which opened rather easily despite its obvious weight.

"One asshole, as requested," Iemitsu said with a slight smirk on his face.

A similar smile twitched at one corner of her mouth when her eyes fell upon the slumped figure tied to a chair under a single bare light bulb.


	53. Revenge

There are some who say that revenge is best served cold, and others who say that revenge is sweet. It could be hot and sour as far as Reina cared, so long as she got it. She didn't bat an eye as she held out a hand palm up towards Iemitsu.

"What?" he asked with a slight frown.

"I know you have a gun, give it to me," she ordered, turning to him with a matching frown.

"Didn't you bring your own?" his brow creased in confusion.

"Yeah, but it's in a naughty place."

"What does that even mean?"

"I would show you, but you're married."

"Oh God," he looked mildly appalled as he handed over a silver pistol.

"I can assure you he has nothing to do with it," she drawled as she cocked the gun.

She took two swift steps towards the man hunched in the chair and pointed the gun at his head. She paused for a moment before pulling the trigger. She barely felt the recoil, her elbow bending slightly to compensate for the kick. She felt a smug sort of satisfaction at the sight of the new hole in the man's head, though she was sure it was nothing compared to the gaping maw of the exit wound on the back of his skull.

"Well, now that that's done," she sniffed, turning back to face Iemitsu and the suited boy. "I don't suppose you'll let me out of here without hearing a job offer," a slight frown crossed her face at the thought.

"Whatever would make you think that?" Iemitsu asked with a disarming smile.

"Call it a hunch," her frown deepened as she handed the gun back.

"Well, your hunch is wrong," he said as he replaced the weapon in its holster hidden beneath his suit jacket.

"We'll see about that," a corner of her mouth lifted up in a disbelieving sneer.

"Of course, Basil-kun," he said, addressing the boy that had been silent throughout the whole ordeal.

_Definitely an alias,_ she thought, looking at the boy from the corner of her eye.

"Please escort La Reina back to Namimori."

"Of course, Master," Basil said with a slight bow before turning to Reina. "Please, follow me."

* * *

It took longer than she had expected for the questions to start, and when they did they weren't exactly what she thought they would be.

"You live next to Sawada-dono."

It was more of an observation on Basil's part than a question, so Reina didn't feel the need to respond.

"You know that he is the heir to the Vongola Famiglia."

Again, an observation, but this on she felt obliged to respond to.

"Yes," she said, staring out the tinted window and trying to count the street lights as they passed. "I was there."

"You fought with Lancia-dono when the Varia attacked."

"Yes," she confirmed, "I believe that was his name, though we were never formally introduced."

"Why do you not officially declare allegiance then?"

Reina couldn't help but lose count of the lights when she turned to look into Basil's blue eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"I know that it is not my place to say," he started, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs, "but since you have already done much for him then why not? I doubt your life would change much."

"You're right," she started in a soft tone, "it's not your place to say," her tone turned icy and she turned back to look out the window.

"Of course, forgive me."

* * *

Reina sat on the floor of her bedroom thinking. Perhaps she thought that the towers of books surrounding her would give her some kind of extra mental "umph", so to speak. Perhaps she had simple flopped down onto the carpet because the bed was entirely too far from the door for her at the moment. Regardless of her motivation, she sat and stared at the same patch of wall she had been staring at half an hour ago.

What was she to do now that the fires of rage at Soto that had been fueling her for so long had been quenched? She didn't even have enough motivation to make it to the bed for crying out loud. Maybe she would fall asleep on the floor, wake up around noon, call in sick, and just relish in the almost terrifying sense of serenity that had taken hold of her. A great weight had been lifted off her shoulder, and a small, cynical part of her was waiting for another – possibly heavier – weight to take its place.

She barely registered the ringing of her phone, and her only reaction to it was to shift her listless gaze from the wall to the screen blinking up at her. In the back of her mind it clicked that she knew the number and that she should answer it, but her arms seemed content to stay draped across her folded legs. It took much more effort than normal to pick up the device and flip it open, even more to hit the button to answer and bring it to her ear.

She listened silently as the other side gave her specific instructions, only grunting a few times to show that she was listening. Had this strange sense of calm rendered her mute? That would be unfortunate…

For a moment she considered testing this theory by telling the very bossy person giving her much more instruction than needed to shut up already, but decided against it. Instead she closed her phone and heaved herself up to her feet. She took shuffling steps out the door and down the hallway to Yoshiro's old room, yawning as she pushed open the door. A faint smile crossed her face when her eyes fell upon the computer tower blinking softly at her from beneath the old desk. With one soft push of the power button three monitors winked on, bathing her face in a pale blue glow.

The instructions had been very simple; gather as much information as she could about the target, then wait.

Yes, if there was one thing that she had learned in her life it was that no matter what, the world keeps on turning. Someone will always want dirt on someone else, or want someone else dead. Such was the world she had been thrown into. Such was the world she thrived in.


	54. Transfer Student

Reina felt like her eyes were crusted open when she tried to glance down at the small digital clock on the computer's toolbar. The digits appeared to be saying that it was 9:26, or was that an 8? She rubbed at her eyes and looked again. Yeah, that was definitely an 8. So, it was pretty much 9:30. That meant that she had about an hour to get ready to go in to Nami Chuu.

She frowned as she glanced down at the small silver cell phone. Should she call in sick? It wasn't like anyone was likely to need any help; she would probably only see Hibaka… again. She looked back at the monitors before her. She had spent all night gathering information and she didn't know when her contact would call asking for said information, maybe it would be best if she stayed home so she could respond in a timely matter.

She rubbed her chin in a contemplative manner as she mulled over her options. Stay home and possibly get called, or go to Nami Chuu with the same possibility of getting called. If she didn't go to Nami Chuu then she wouldn't get paid for that particular job; of course, the pay check for tutoring was nothing compared to what she was getting paid for just gathering information.

She groaned as she stood up from the stiff wooden chair she had occupied for the past few hours and popped her back, relishing in the feeling of the stiffness leaving her. Taking shuffling steps to the door and down the hall she slowly made her way to the bathroom. For reasons beyond her she had decided to go to Nami Chuu, but she would prepare as if she was going to be called away on a job at any moment. That meant she had to shower.

* * *

The timid knock on the door didn't make Reina look up from the newspaper that she was rereading for the third time. Neither did the sound of the door creaking open or the soft footsteps either. She waited patiently for this person to make his or her presence known. She knew for sure it wasn't Hibaka or Reborn; both would've said something or attacked her by now.

"Are you just going to stand there until I put my paper down or are you going to say something before lunch is over?" she asked without looking up as she turned a page. "It doesn't affect me either way; I still get paid whether anyone comes in or not for some reason. Personally, I think it's because of my charm and wit," she said, folding down the top half of her paper and looking up at the visitor.

It was a boy with red hair and equally red irises dressed in a crumpled uniform that was distinctly not Nami Chuu's. She noted the white bandages covering molted bruises and scrapes with an arched eyebrow.

"What happened to your face?" she asked with genuine concern but it sounded slightly like contempt. "I think you should be at the nurse instead of here."

"The nurse sent me away," he mumbled, looking down at the tile floor.

"Huh, crappy nurse," she said, straightening her paper. "So, why're you here?" she asked with feigned disinterest.

"I recently transferred here," he spoke softly; "the teacher said that I might be able to get caught up if I came here."

"You might," she confirmed, glancing up at him, "but I'm afraid you'll have to come back later; lunch is almost over and if the Disciplinary Committee catches you out of class then you'll have a few more bruises to add to your collection."

The boy stiffened considerably at this, and she couldn't help but give a light chuckle.

"How about I walk you back, just in case?" she offered, getting up from her chair.

He nodded mutely, and she could see his Adam's apple bobbing and he swallowed thickly.

"Thank you," he said, looking up at her with a meek expression.

"It's no problem," she smiled in what she hoped to be a comforting way.

Apparently it was since he seemed to relax a bit as they left the classroom and started off down the hall. Neither of them spoke, Reina because she felt that words weren't necessary and the boy most likely because he was too nervous and didn't trust his voice not to crack. She saw from the corner of her eye that he seemed to tense up the closer they got to the second year classrooms, she guessed that he was either a second year student or had been beaten up by second year students.

"Caiossu!"

Reina stopped dead in her tracks and glared down at the baby standing in front of her.

"What do you want, Baby?" she frowned, barely noticing the boy slowly begin to edge away.

"Die, Reina-chan," he said, pointing a pistol at her and pulling the trigger, not giving her a moment to react.

The gun had a silencer attached to the barrel so instead of a sharp crack it was more like a short whistle that filled her mind and sent her into survival mode. At this distance it was impossible for her to dodge it completely, and for some reason she felt rooted to the ground; maybe she had stepped in some gum earlier…

She felt like she could see the bullet as it raced through the air to the center of her forehead, where it was undoubtedly sent. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the inevitable. Such a shame that her life would end like this, there was so much that she wanted to do…


	55. Dying Will

Reborn watched the young woman's body fall back down to the ground with a patient air. She would be back on her feet soon enough and off to carry out her Dying Will. Assuming she had one, that is. Before the seed of doubt could even consider germinating there was a ripping sound as Reina sat straight up, her torso tearing through the light blue buttoned shirt she was wearing. She glared at him before carefully getting to her feet, slipping more than bursting out of her white skinny jeans and tan pumps.

He wasn't concerned with her white lacey unmentionables, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that she had a crown inked in black over her right hip bone. No, his attention was focused on the flame flickering on her forehead. It wasn't just one attribute like any of the others before, but two. Crimson Storm Flame danced with violet Cloud Flame until one was barely distinguishable from the other.

He barely dodged a vicious kick that had been aimed for his head by jumping out of the way. For a moment he thought that he Dying Will was to fight him, but she ignored him after the initial outburst and started walking down the hall.

"HIIE!" Tsuna's squawk could probably be heard in Italy, so it was definitely heard by Reborn. "Soto-san! What?"

"OI! What the Hell, woman?!" Gokudera joined in.

Yamamoto seemed to be shocked beyond words and just stood there gaping as she walked past the trio.

"You should follow her," Reborn suggested as he jumped onto Yamamoto's shoulder, "make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

Tsuna squeaked at the thought and swallowed thickly, nodding his cherry red head in agreement. Gokudera was blushing as well and grumbled something about "if Juudaime says so" while Yamamoto appeared to be so shocked he couldn't properly function.

"Well, get to it!" the infant prompted, jumping onto his useless student's head.

* * *

The Reception Room was silent and slightly stuffy, just the way that Hibari liked it. He sat with one leg crossed over the other on the black leather couch in the center of the room reading one of his favorite books, not feeling any violent urges for once. He was mildly annoyed though, those transfer students from Shimon Chuu had all turned out to be herbivores; not that he had been expecting any different, but the female herbivore reminded him greatly of another female, damnable herbivore. Okay, now he was feeling mildly violent, not that he was thinking about that damn herbivore. He heard the footsteps as he carefully marked his place in the book, but he assumed it was a student returning to class. His assumption was quickly shot down when the door to the Reception Room slammed open.

He didn't jump at the sudden and unexpected intrusion; no, that's what a herbivore would do. Instead he set his book to the side before directing a chilling glare to the doorway. His glare faltered when he saw who was standing with hands on hips in the doorway.

Speak of the Devil…

The first thing he noticed was her distinct lack of clothing, just white lace clinging to her olive skin. The second thing he noticed was the tattoo. He frowned at this, he had let her slide with her piercings, but a tattoo was unforgivable. When his silver eyes flicked up to her face so she could receive the full force of his glare it faltered for a moment. A small flame burned on her forehead, a flame not entirely unlike the ones used in the future.

"Herbivore," he growled, his composure and glare recovered.

"Kyouya."

The way she said his name made a slight chill run down his spine.

"Ah! There she is!" he recognized that Sawada herbivore's voice accompanied by rapid footfalls.

"She's about to go into the Reception Room!" there was that Gokudera herbivore's voice.

"Get her, Dame-Tsuna!" that baby was there too.

Sawada was propelled through the doorway, tackling that damn herbivore in the process. Hibari arched an eyebrow at this odd display. This was a gross disregard for the rules on both their parts so they both would be bitten to death.

There was a long moment of silence as Sawada appeared to be coming to terms with what he had just done before he quickly scrambled off of that damn herbivore as if the act of touching her had burnt him. Was her skin so hot that it could burn? He would have to check sometime….

Almost immediately she lifted her head, looking around frantically. Her eyes widened and there was definitely a tinge of red across the bridge of her nose when she realized her state of undress. The tinge grew into a full on blush when she looked up and saw him staring intently at her.

"What the Hell is going on?!" she demanded, trying to fold herself up so that nothing was visible.

"Herbivore," Hibari started, his tone dark, "tattoos are against the rules."

"Are you serious?!" she screeched, caught between the desire to keep her knees pinned to her chest and the desire to jump to her feet ready to fight. "I'm sitting here _without freaking clothes_, and you focus on the tattoo?! What is wrong with you?!"

Hibari noted that the flame was gone from her forehead, along with whatever agenda she had before. Shame.

"She has a point, Hibari-kun," the baby smirked, his eyes shadowed by his fedora.

The prefect sent a withering glare at the baby, but Sawada seemed to receive the brunt of it.

"Hey, guys!" the Yamamoto herbivore's voice came from the hallway, "I brought Soto-san's clothes!"

"Thank you!" that damn herbivore sighed, springing to her feet and dashing out the door

* * *

Reina had barricaded herself in the farthest stall of the girl's bathroom and was hurriedly redressing, if she was quick enough she could get out of there without anyone seeing her and she could pretend that this had never happened. She was having trouble stuffing her legs into her jeans and she almost stumbled into the toilet. Thankfully she barely missed the bowl and ended up stubbing her toes against the tiled wall.

She bit back a curse as she finally pulled her jeans on and started with her shirt. The majority of the buttons had popped off, but she could easily fix that when she got home. She found that if she crossed her arms just right nothing would show through and that was good enough for now.

She silently exited the stall and slowly made her way to the door, wincing every time her heels clacked a little too loudly against the linoleum floor. The door creaked slightly as she gently pulled it open to peak out into the hall.

Her stealthy escape was effectively foiled when she saw Hibaka standing across the hall, waiting for her. She slowly eased the door shut again, if she was lucky he hadn't noticed it opening in the first place. She wasn't lucky.

"Herbivore," he sounded annoyed as he pushed the door open.

"Hibaka," it came out more like a surprised squeak than the cool acknowledgement she had intended. "What," her voice cracked a bit, "ah," she cleared her throat, "what are you doing in the girl's bathroom?" she asked in her normal tone.

She made sure to keep her back to him and her arms securely over her chest, keeping her shirt together. The slight growl of annoyance behind her almost made her turn willingly, but she didn't have to since he grabbed a hold of her elbow and pulled none too gently until she was facing him.

"What?" she snapped, trying to free herself without actually moving her arms.

He narrowed his eyes at her and pulled harder, managing to break her arms a part.

"Pervert!" she hissed, grabbing the edges of her now open blouse and pulling them closed across her body.

She got a glare in response and before she could call him anything else a mass of fabric was thrown at her face. She spluttered in annoyance as she clawed the fabric away from her face, but the unflattering name died on her lips when she was greeted with the sight of the door slowly closing.

Reina was sure she was in a mild state of shock as she looked down at the cloth in her arms and recognized it as his uniform jacket. She didn't spare a moment to wonder if the world was ending, just threw it on over her ruined shirt and quickly buttoned the front. She paused for a moment as she was fixing the collar and slowly brought a lapel to her nose.

_Smells nice…_


	56. Rings and Boxes

As soon as Reina had returned home she had parked herself in front of the three monitors where she had spent the night and most of the morning. Maybe if she threw herself into her work she could forget about the events at Nami Chuu…

"Is there any particular reason why the stairs are booby trapped today?" Yoshiro's voice broke her concentration, "Or are you just feeling mischievous?"

"Shouldn't you be looking for a job?" she asked with an edge of annoyance in her voice.

"I already got one," he said, dragging her chair away from the desk.

"Then shouldn't you be there?" she frowned as she tried to scoot her chair back to her work station.

"I'm on lunch," he countered, twirling the chair around so she was facing him.

He didn't say anything as he held out a small box to her.

"Yoshi, I'm flattered," she said as she took it from him, "but don't we have to get the approval of the village elders first?"

"Cute," he scoffed and she gave him her best adorable grin.

"I try," she hummed as she opened the box.

She was silent for a long moment as she stared down at the contents of the box with her bows furrowed. Even in the low light the clear gem set into silver metal glittered up at her.

"What is this?" she asked, still looking down at the ring.

"It's a ring."

"I can see that," she frowned up at him, "why did you give me a ring?"

"It's a special ring," he elaborated, "it channels Dying Will Flames to open this," he fished a slightly larger box out of his jacket pocket.

"Did you," her eyebrows knit together, "did you just say Dying Will Flames?"

"Yes, have you heard of them?"

"I think so," she paused, "in a dream…"

Yoshiro's expression mirrored her own as his eyes shifted between her and the ring.

"So you know how it works?"

"Yeah, but why is the gem clear?" she asked as she picked the ring up and turned it over in her hand.

"It hasn't been assigned an attribute yet, neither has the box," he held up the box.

Her gaze shifted to the box now and she stared in wonder. The surface looked like it was shifting and swirling, like a soap bubble it seemed clear yet colors still swam through it.

"What's in it?" she asked, reaching out to take it as well.

"It's either Clostridium botulinum or jellyfish," he said as he watched her intently.

"How'd you get it?" she looked up at him with mild worry in her eyes.

"The company I work for was commissioned to make these," he said, gesturing towards the ring and box. "Although I think our lead scientist was already working on something similar. They're prototypes, eventually we hope to be able to make more complex organisms."

"Okay," Reina nodded, "but how did you get your hands on _these_?" she asked, holding up the objects in her hands.

"These were declared rejects," he said, picking up the box. "None of our test subjects could get the ring to ignite or the box to open. I've been taking all the rejects home though I'm supposed to destroy them."

"Couldn't you lose your job because of that?" the worry in her eyes seemed to double.

"Call it a calculated risk," he smiled faintly as he pressed the box back into her hands. "I believe you can get them to work."

She gave him a doubtful look but slid the ring on regardless. She looked down at the clear, circle-cut stone reflecting the faint glow of the monitors onto her face. How was it possible that she could get it to work when a bunch of scientist couldn't?

"Yoshiro," she started, letting her hands fall to her lap.

"Just try," he sighed, "if it doesn't work then I won't bother you with it again."

"Okay," she drew her mouth into a flat line.

Her gaze fell down to the ring again and tried to remember. She tried to recall the more exact details from her strange dream. What had they said they were a product of? Will? Determination? Annoyance?

What was her will? She had killed Soto, so what else was there to fuel her fire? Watch after Yoshiro? No, he was a grown man who was more than capable of taking care of himself. Keep Atún safe? No, he and his friends were growing stronger and stronger every day. So why did she keep fighting? It wasn't for money; she had more than enough of that. Recognition? Maybe, but that wasn't strong enough to conjure a flame.

Then for some reason she remembered what had happened at Nami Chuu. She felt a mild heat begin to crawl up her neck, but she was distracted from the blush by the small flicker of movement on her hand. A small flame danced on her finger, the clear gem now dark, almost black.

"Interesting," Yoshiro gasped softly, "I've never heard of a black flame before."

"It's not black," Reborn's voice cut in from the direction of the bookshelf.

"I'm sorry?" Yoshiro asked, looking over to see the baby seated one the bookshelf in the circle of light cast by a small lamp.

"It's violet and crimson," the baby continued as he hopped to his feet and made his way to the light switch. "You just can't tell because of the bad lighting," he explained as he flipped the switch.

Reina winced slightly at the sudden brightness.

"There's a reason why those were off," she groaned, bringing her ring-less hand to rub the spots out of her vision.

"He's right," Yoshiro said, taking her hand and bringing it closer to his face, "it's two colors! That's amazing! The ring is the same, too! We've never had results like these before, I have to write this down!" he was giddy as he pulled a small notepad and pen out of his jacket and immediately started to scribble notes.

"Try opening the box," Reborn urged walking up beside Yoshiro, watching the strange flame with the utmost interest.

"I - is that safe?" Reina stuttered slightly, the two options of what were in the box didn't seem very equal.

"Yeah, go ahead," Yoshiro waved dismissively, "people open them at their desks all the time."

"Are you sure?" she pressed, "One of the options is a deadly strain of bacteria and the other is an entity that is 95% water."

"Box animals are made entirely of Flame – a product of your will – so if you will it to be violent then it will be," Reborn said as if it was common knowledge.

"Okay," she frowned uneasily as she brought the ring and flame to the small opening on the box. "Last chance to change your mind."

"Do it," Yoshiro urged, excitement glittering in his eyes.

_Here goes nothing_, she thought, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she inserted the gem into the circular hole.

There was a soft click and she could see colors blossoming from behind her eyelids, but that might have been because she had them clenched so tightly. She chanced a peek and her jaw dropped as her eyes opened wide in amazement. Floating in front of her was a small purple jellyfish with crimson tentacles. It bobbed gently in place for a moment before it slowly started to make its way around the room.

"This is incredible!" Yoshiro gasped following the small creature, trying to get a good angle to sketch a picture. "I knew you could do it, Reina! I knew it!" he laughed.

"So what was the source of your Will?" Reborn asked in a low voice as he watched Yoshiro cry out in excitement as a small bud appeared on the pulsating bell.

"I… I'm not sure," she answered just as softly, also watching her brother document the apparently multiplying jellyfish.

She knew. Oh yes, she remembered from both her dream and what she felt earlier, but there was no way she would admit it to Reborn. Not when her brother was in the same room celebrating his apparent genius. Not when she wasn't sure herself of the feelings whirling around inside of her gut.

_I just wanted him to say my name…_


	57. Definite No

Reina had a very hard time convincing Yoshiro to return to his work. He had wanted to stay and "document this momentous discovery". In the end it had been Reborn's tiny silver tongue that had persuaded the man, with the suggestion that there might be more boxes that Reina and her strange flame could open. And so Yoshiro left with the promise of returning the next day with more rings and boxes. Great.

"Why'd you have to do that?" Reina sighed, for a moment her exhaustion showed. "Now I'll never get rid of him…"

"Rings and boxes are the weapons of the future, Reina-chan," the infant said as he jumped into her lap. "You of all people should know that."

"Well, pardon me if I'm more concerned with the present," she rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you're not more excited about this," he said, tilting his head a bit, "in the future you have an entire cache of these things."

"I see you're having some trouble with mixing up the future and present tense of verbs," she started, rubbing at her tired eyes.

"Why are you so against the idea of the future that you've seen?" Reborn snapped, his eyes flashing with annoyance, "Is it really so bad for you to align yourself with Tsuna?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation, "it is. Do you even know what I've done? Because it seems like you don't."

"You've infiltrated and taken down Mafia Famiglias and corrupt government agencies," he answered simply. "Do you think the Vongola won't accept you because of that?"

"No," she scoffed, "I don't mean that. The stories you've heard are just the ones that aren't drenched in blood, the ones that only I know. I have seen and done truly terrible things."

"Like what?" he asked with a bit of skepticism in his voice.

"I know this might be hard for you, but for a moment just imagine that you never had a choice, that it was either fight to live or die trying. The weak are trampled beneath the mob and the strong get a glimpse of what it's like to live like a human. I have watched mothers abandon their children so they could have one less mouth to feed. I have stolen food from dying men just so I could extend my own miserable existence one more day. And for what? So people could graciously," she spat the word out covered with venom and sarcasm, "extend an invitation to join them after I've bathed myself in blood a hundred times over? No. I didn't fight this long and hard on my own just so you would give me the time of day," she took a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt to rein in her rising temper.

It didn't work.

"Where were you," she started, her voice shaking from barely contained rage, "where were you when I was starving? Where was the Vongola when I was _dying_? As far as I'm concerned there are only three people I owe allegiance to, and Atún isn't one of them."

Reborn was silent for a long moment and the only movement in the room was the steady pulsations of the jellyfish in the corner.

"I see," he said finally, turning to leave with a heavy shadow over most of his face. "If that's the case then I won't bother you with it again."

"I'll believe it when it happens," she scoffed, watching him walk out the door.

Not long after the baby passed over the threshold the jellyfish bobbed slowly over it as well. Reina felt a small pang of something – betrayal? – deep in her chest. So, even the manifestation of her will had left her? Fine, she didn't need the stupid thing!

She stood and spun her chair back around to face the computer, her nails digging into the wood as she gripped it a bit too tightly. She shoved it forward roughly and sat back down. Her mood was now so foul that she almost couldn't concentrate on the monitors, wonderful.

Anyone watching her could tell that she was furious by the way her fingers hit the keys, creating a loud, angry clacking that filled the air around her. Anything that knew what was good for it would've kept a healthy distance from her, and yet there was a small cup of steaming green tea next to the mouse when she went to move it.

She stopped completely, almost forgetting what she was supposed to be doing. Where had the tea come from? She looked up to see the jellyfish floating next to her as if it was watching her. She stared back at it before turning back to the monitors, grabbing the cup instead of the mouse as she had intended.

"Gracias," she mumbled into the tea.

* * *

Hibari sat in an empty classroom looking out of its second story window. He could see students leaving for the day, their extracurricular activities done for the day. For a moment he envied them, but he quickly squashed the herbivorous emotion. He had nothing waiting for him at home, just an old man who was equally cold and violent as he and an old lady who would look helplessly between them as they sat in tense silence. No, he definitely preferred Nami Chuu than that. Here was his castle, where he was king and controlled everything with an iron fist.

Everything, that is except for a certain damn herbivore.

His silver eyes shifted from the window to the empty teacher's desk at the head of the classroom.

She was neglecting her duties, a punishable offense that he would make sure she paid for.

He quickly looked back out the window when he realized his thoughts were lingering on her for far too long.

_Fifteen minutes_, he decided. He would wait for fifteen more minutes and then he would leave.

* * *

Reina had been spending way too much time with Yoshiro. Or so she decided as she watched the jellyfish float around the kitchen in fascination.

She had come down the stairs with the intent of finding something to eat and found the animal already there, and it looked like it was preparing some kind of meal. It had even spawned little copies of itself to fetch ingredients she didn't even know she had and grew more tentacles so it could better control the utensils in its grasp.

"This is so weird," she breathed, her eyes wide as a small jellyfish went past her carrying a salt shaker.

* * *

Translations:

Atún - Tuna

Gracias - Thank you


	58. Further Testing

The night passed with a sort of surreal quality. The sun set and the moon rose as they should, but Reina neither noticed nor cared. As far as she was concerned time would pass with or without her consent, so instead she focused on learning as much as she possibly could about her new "weapon".

"So," she started, drawing out the "o" for a few seconds. "What's your name?"

The jellyfish simply bobbed in the air in front of her.

"Right, stupid question," she winced slightly. "What do you eat?"

The animal floated down to her hand resting on the tabletop. Its tentacles gently caressed her fingers as it hovered over the flickering from her ring.

"Well, that explains that," she hummed, flexing her fingers. "What do you do aside from cook?"

The jellyfish wrapped a crimson tentacle around a chopstick and Reina watched in fascination as the wood disintegrated where it touched the tentacle, clattering onto the table in two pieces.

"You have to be the coolest thing that Yoshiro's ever gotten me. Ever," she declared with an awed expression on her face.

* * *

"Okay," Yoshiro started as he spread out an array of boxes and rings out on the kitchen table. "I didn't have any more blank rings, but I have quite a few boxes that haven't been assigned any attributes along with some Cloud and Storm boxes and rings."

"Neat," Reina said, distracted by the laptop open in front of her. "About how long do you think this'll take?" she asked without moving her eyes from the screen.

"I only have an hour for lunch," he said, tapping a pen against a notepad already laid out to take notes. "Why? What're you working on?"

"Well, I could tell you," she started, a mischievous smirk dancing on her lips, "but I'd have to kill you."

"Point taken," he chuckled, "I'll be out of here in thirty minutes."

"Make it fifteen and I'll buy you lunch."

"Deal," he said, pushing the laptop closed so he could have her undivided attention. "Now," he started as he held out a translucent box, "shall we begin?"

By the time the fifteen minutes was up the two had two piles, a pile for boxes she could open and another pile for boxes she couldn't. The pile for boxes she could open was more like a small mountain of purple and crimson than a pile, and a few rings were interspersed with the cubes, the gems glittering in the artificial lights.

"Well, that was successful," Yoshiro hummed as he scribbled a few more notes.

"I'll say," Reina agreed as she absently scratched a small, purple rabbit between its ears. "But I have to ask, what tactical purpose does a rabbit possess?" she asked with an inquisitively arched eyebrow.

"Well… you know," he fumbled for an answer, "the enemy might be allergic to pet dander… or adorableness."

"Adorableness?"

"Yes, it's quite common; actually," he said with a dignified sniff, "studies have shown that many evil-hearted bad men have extremely volatile reactions to cute things."

"And you know this because," Reina drew the last word out, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

"Reasons."

"Yes, of course," she rolled her eyes, "that explains everything."

"It does in deed," he chuckled as he closed his notebook. "Now how about we stop questioning the motives of geniuses and get on to lunch? All this experimentation it making me hungry!"

"Yeah, sure," she said, returning the rabbit back to its purple box. "What do you want?"

"Hm… there's a pretty good sushi restaurant around here if I remember correctly," Yoshiro said, tapping his chin in thought.

"Alright, you're paying," she said as she got up from the table.

"What?! You said you would pay!" he shouted, jumping up from his seat.

"Yeah, but this took fifteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds," she countered as she glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall, "I said I would pay if it was exactly fifteen minutes and you went over the time limit."

"Whatever," he sighed heavily, he had actually been expecting her to do something like this. "Just put your shoes on so we can go already."

* * *

Reina and Yoshiro sat at the bar of a local restaurant watching the chef prepare their meal. It was a nondescript little place, nestled snugly between two much larger buildings with living space above the restaurant. She decided that she liked it very much; it was a bit difficult to find and it was almost vacant, just one other person at the other end of the bar and two men sipping tea in the corner.

At first she hadn't been sure what had possessed her to bring a purse with her – it wasn't like she was going to pay or anything – but now she was glad that she had acted on the inexplicable urge. She had fished out a compact mirror and flipped it open when she felt eyes burning between her shoulder blades. She used it to sweep the area behind her without turning, pretending to be fixing her hair.

For a split second she made eye contact with one of the men in the corner and she knew. She had caught him in more than a passing glance, he had been watching her. He tried to play it off as watching the chef roll sushi, but the slight widening of his eyes gave him away. She paused for a moment to adjust her bangs before putting the mirror back.

"Oh," she feigned surprise as she grabbed her phone, "I'm sorry but I have to take this," she said to Yoshiro as she glanced down at the blank screen. "Thank you for splitting a cab with me and offering to buy me lunch," she smiled sweetly at him like he was a kind stranger and she was a kind woman. "I wish we could've had more time to talk, you seem like a very kind man."

"I understand," Yoshiro smiled back a bit sadly, catching on quickly, "duty calls."

"Have a nice day," she said with a slight bow before rushing out the front door with her purse on her shoulder.

As soon as she stepped out the door she moved quickly to a small side street a few storefronts down and there she stopped. She reached back into her purse but this time instead of a mirror or phone she pulled out a box with purple and crimson swirling on its glassy surface. Coincidentally enough, or so the common man on the street would guess, it matched the gem resting on her finger perfectly.

_I think_, she started as a wicked grin crossed her face, _that it's time for some field testing._


	59. Field Testing and Concerned Citizens

It didn't take long for the two men from the restaurant to follow her, and she was waiting for them just inside the deep shadows cast by the nearby buildings. Reina watched them turn onto the side street and ignited her ring, the dark flame barely distinguishable from the shadows if not for the random flares of crimson.

"Can I help you boys?" she asked, flexing her fingers.

"You've crossed some dangerous people, little girl," one of the men chuckled darkly.

So, looks like someone had identified her from the small window of opportunity those months ago.

"Well," the other one said after letting out a low whistle, "would you look at that? That sure is a pretty flame you got there."

"Thank you!" she said sweetly, "I'm glad you like it, 'cause it'll be the last thing you see," her attitude took a complete 180 degree turn.

"Big talk for a little girl," the first man chuckled, stepping forward with his partner into the shadows.

Purple and crimson light bloomed in the darkness followed by two not very manly screams. The two men thumped to the ground in heaps and in the faint light cast by the jellyfish floating over them. Angry black stripes of rotted flesh cut through the men's throat, revealing the white bones of their spines and bright red blood gushing out of the gaping wounds.

"Excellent work, Zhē," she smiled at the jellyfish, raising her hand with the lit ring up to offer it more flames. "I can already tell that we're going to make a wonderful team."

* * *

Yoshiro sat at the sushi bar frowning into his green tea. The two men who had been sitting in the corner had left almost as soon as Reina had crossed over the threshold, so of course he was worried about her. The fact that the two men had yet to return meant one of two things, that she had taken care of them or they had taken care of her.

The second – though less likely than the first – was what was plaguing his mind at the moment, so much so that he didn't even notice the man from the end of the bar sliding down to take the seat that Reina had occupied moments ago.

"That woman you were with," the man said softly so that only Yoshiro could hear, "she's not who she says she is. She's dangerous."

"Her? Dangerous?" Yoshiro frowned, still playing the part of an ignorant stranger. "That hardly seems likely; did you see how small she is?"

"Soto Yoshiro," the man smiled mysteriously, "you should be more careful about who you fraternize with, many would kill to get their hands on even the rejects of the technologies you work on."

"Are you one of them?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he stiffened.

He had no weapons on him, just the rings and boxes that Reina couldn't get to work and as far as he knew he couldn't produce a flame. He gave an awkward smile to the chef when he placed his food down on the counter and grabbed the wooden chopsticks he had been provided. Yes, those would do in a pinch.

"No," the man said as he got up from his stool. "If it helps, you can think of me as a concerned citizen."

* * *

Reina had made sure to carefully remove any and all identification from the bodies and now she sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor with her laptop open and the men's wallets sitting beside her. The window behind her was open, letting fresh air come and go as it pleased, along with a few bugs and even a small yellow bird. Said bird hadn't done much, just peck at the keyboard before it settled on her head, making a nest out of her brown curls. She just wrote its behavior off as that of a pet's and that it would go home sooner or later.

"Caiossu!"

Apparently her open window was an invitation for all kinds of annoyances.

She grunted in response and continued with what she had been doing. Maybe if she ignored him he would go away…

"What're you doing?" Reborn asked, jumping up onto her shoulder so he could see the screen better.

The yellow bird gave an indignant chirp before spreading its wings and leaving the way it had come. From the corner of her eye Reina saw the baby watch the bird fly away with a slightly confused frown on his small lips.

"I'm surprised you came back," she admitted, reaching for the now cold mug of tea beside her. "I thought last time would've scared you off…"

"Let's just say that I have faith in your future potential," he smirked as he directed his gaze back to the computer sitting on the floor. "Why are you looking up the Romano Famiglia?" he asked; his confused frown back with a vengeance.

"I was attacked today by two of their members," she said as if she was commenting about the weather.

"What happened?" he asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"What do you think happened?" she snorted as she took a sip of her drink. "I walked away and they didn't."

The two fell into a thick silence, no doubt that Reborn was thinking back to what she had said the other day.

"One of them said that I've crossed some dangerous people, so I decided to run their names through my files to see what I've done that relates to them," she said, gesturing to the wallets.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"Two years ago I was contracted to break into a secure warehouse and retrieve any and all information I could regarding the owner, in this case the Romano Famiglia," she explained, resting an elbow on her knee and her chin on her elbow. "That's one thing about you Mafia, you sure can hold a grudge," she hummed as she idly traced the rim of her mug.

"Some Famiglias more than others," Reborn hummed as his eyes scanned the screen. "Do you still have the information you gathered?" he asked, clearly the gears in his mind had started turning.

"Uh, yeah; I should," she said, leaning over to grab a thick mathematics text book, "I made two copies just in case someone else wanted info on them."

She pulled the book into her lap and opened it to reveal that the insides had been hollowed out. Inside sat a fairly large external hard drive, its sleek black exterior a stark contrast to the glossy white pages surrounding it.

"How much will this cost me?" he asked, eyeing the piece of technology almost greedily.

"I was originally paid $550,000 American not including expenses, so in the end it was more like $250,000," Reina hummed as she picked the hard drive up. "It sure would be nice if I got what I was promised, including expenses…"

"Done!" Reborn declared, launching himself from her shoulder at the hard drive.

"Not quite," she said as she moved her hand out of his trajectory. "I expect to be paid first, and in cash; harder to trace, you know?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"You've got some guts," he chuckled darkly as a deep shadow fell over his eyes, "not many would dare to make such demands of an Arcoballeno."

"Feh, you don't scare me," she scoffed, folding her arms over her chest and tucking the hard drive into the bend of her elbow. "I've dealt with your kind before."


	60. Mischief

The morning came a bit sooner than Reina had expected, it had snuck up on her in the form of a pale sunrise spreading over the horizon visible through her now closed window. Nothing exceptional had happened that night, just a few shady-looking characters taking late night strolls down the street. At the first appearance of said characters she had released a swarm of purple moths from one of her new Cloud boxes to patrol the area and to attack if anyone got too close to her home or lingered for too long. Her precautions proved to be unnecessary since the night passed in the most peaceful manner that it could.

Nami Chuu had called the day before asking if she could work the whole day since she had missed the afternoon session on Tuesday and she had agreed. She had finished digging up the information she had been contracted to so spending the day away from her computer was exactly what she needed. She could also return Hibaka's jacket while she was there. Or maybe she should keep it just to annoy him? No! She would wear it and not give it back, he would be furious!

A mischievous grin spread across her lips as she jumped to her feet and practically flew over to her closet. She had just the outfit, too.

* * *

Hibari Kyouya was not amused. Not that he ever found anything funny, but at this moment all he saw was red. Firstly, that female transfer student had defaced Nami Chuu and challenged his authority. Secondly, that exceptionally herbivorous Sawada had interrupted their fight before he could put her into her place. Thirdly – and this was like icing on the cake that he already loathed – that damn herbivore was there. _And she was wearing his jacket._

"Herbivore," he growled, wishing this all to be a very bad dream.

"Yes, Hibaka?" she asked sweetly as she propped her feet up on the desk in that careless way of hers that he hated.

"My jacket," was all he trusted himself to say.

For a moment he lost his train of thought when he glared down at her and saw her toned, tan legs stretching out from beneath her black pleated skirt. He almost forgot how to breathe when the fabric shifted to reveal more skin.

"What about it?" she crossed one leg over the other, causing her skirt to bunch up even more.

His silver eyes snapped back up to glare into her laughing chocolate depths. No, he had to stay focused. He couldn't let anyone – let alone someone like _her_ – be seen wearing his jacket, people would talk and when people talked it always found its way to his grandfather's ears. He wouldn't let that happen.

"Give it back," he ordered, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Hm… no," she grinned, grabbing the lapels and pulling the fabric tighter over her chest. "I like it, it smells nice," she said as she turned her nose into the collar, though for a brief moment he could see that she hadn't meant to share that particular tidbit of information.

"Herbivore," his voice was a dangerous rumble now and he didn't even notice the purple flame that blossomed on his ring.

"Hibaka," she purred back, still grinning like the idiot she was.

Something inside of him snapped at that. It wasn't the way she had said that stupid nickname that made him furious, it was the strange feeling that started to churn his stomach as the last syllable left her lips. Those lips… were they soft? They looked soft; maybe he could feel them someday. On his own lips or somewhere else on his body? Yes.

He was actually surprised that he didn't vocalize his anger at himself for those fleeting, herbivorous thoughts as he slammed a tonfa into the desk. The wood cracked under the force of his fury and the desk caved, splitting into two jagged halves. That damn herbivore was on her feet immediately, probably to yell at him for breaking her footrest.

What neither of them anticipated though was how far forward she would launch herself from her seat, landing incredibly close to him. Or how close her face would be to his, their noses brushed against each other as her momentum carried her upper half forward for a few more centimeters. And no one expected her lips to crash against his with enough force to make him take a half step back as their teeth clicked violently.

All his muscles and joints in his legs locked, rooting him in place, though his arms seemed to be perfectly functional as his hands released his tonfas. The metal clattering on the tile didn't quite register as his now empty hands found her hips and gripped those instead, not pulling or pushing, just holding her there. He could feel her hands slipping up to his shoulders, and his heart started racing.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that anyone coming in for tutoring would see them and then people would talk even more than if she had just been wearing his jacket. That knowledge was vastly overshadowed by his new discovery as he tilted his head forward and pulled her the barest bit closer.

Her lips _were_ as soft as they looked.

* * *

Reina's thoughts flew through her mind at a hundred kilometers a second. What was she doing? Had he planned this? Could anyone see them? _Why hadn't she moved yet?!_

She could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage as her hands started moving of their volition up his chest. Okay, good. Her body was reacting on its own to push him away; she sure wished that it would move faster. She felt her eyes start to close and her fingers started to close as well, and her heart started beating even faster. No! This wasn't supposed to happen! She wouldn't let this happen!

Reina roughly shoved herself away from him, panting heavily as she stared at him for a long moment. The jacket! That's what started all this. She practically tore the fabric off her shoulders and threw it at him before sprinting out of the room.


	61. After School Special

When the end of school arrived Reina was hiding out in Nami Chuu's library being as quiet as possible so it was easier to pretend that she wasn't even there. Of course she had taped a note to the door of the classroom she usually occupied stating that she had moved location, but since no one ever came to be tutored she may as well not be there at all. So, she would stay for fifteen more minutes before heading home as quickly as she possibly could.

* * *

Tsuna let out a heavy sigh of relief, cleaning was finally done. It had taken longer than usual since in home economics the teacher had decided that the boys should cook for the girls, and needless to say he had made a royal mess of his station.

"Thank you for staying to help me," he said, meekly looking at the ground.

"Haha, it's no problem, Tsuna-kun!" Yamamoto laughed in his usual way. "It wouldn't have been very fair if we made you clean up the entire mess even though we were in the same group."

"Yeah, those other losers in the group weren't worth to spend more time with Juudaime!" Gokudera declared.

Tsuna looked up and smiled at his friends, he was so lucky to find friends like them. His smile faltered a bit when he caught sight of one of Enma making the mess he was supposed to clean up even bigger than it already was.

"Enma-kun," he said, catching the red head's attention, "do you want some help?"

"Uh," was all they boy could say before Yamamoto cut it.

"Yeah! It'll go even faster with four people than just one," the baseball star said.

"Hey! Don't count me with you, baseball-idiot!" Gokudera yelled.

"Thank you," Enma mumbled, looking down at the mess he was spreading around instead of wiping up, "but you don't have to."

"It's fine," Tsuna said with a reassuring smile, "I know how much it sucks to be stuck cleaning long after everyone else has left."

"I won't let Juudaime stay by himself unguarded," Gokudera muttered as he grabbed a fresh rag.

* * *

Reina stood with her back pressed to one of the supporting pillars of Nami Chuu, willing herself to melt into the concrete. The reason for this was the man wearing an expensive suit leaning against a black sedan. The paranoid part of her mind told her to go around to the sports fields and hop the fence, it was actually quicker for her to get home that way anyway, and the practical part of her told her that was a terrible idea because she was wearing a skirt and an extremely billowy blouse that would get snagged on the top. So here she was, waiting for this man to leave, if he ever did.

"What're you doing, Reina-san?" a distinctly male voice asked, laced with curiosity.

"Holy!" Reina bit back the curse word that was ready and willing to jump off her tongue as she snapped her head to the side to see who had snuck up on her.

She recognized the ridiculous hair style as that of the Disciplinary Committee and the piece of grass as Kusakabe Tetsuya's. She breathed a bit easier when she recognized him, though her heart still hammered away in her chest.

"Don't do that!" she panted, placing a hand on her chest over her heart.

"Sorry," he truly did look apologetic. "What are you hiding from?" he asked, peering around the pillar.

"There's a strange man just sitting out there," she said, cautiously peeking at the man as well. "He makes me uncomfortable," she admitted.

Surprisingly enough she didn't mind admitting something like this to the teen. She had tutored him while he recovered from being attacked by a gang from Kokuyo, and she even saw him a few times after he was given a clean bill of health. They had developed a kind of friendship over the time they spent together; though things had gotten a bit awkward when he admitted that he liked to listen to her explain things more than his teachers. He had mysteriously stopped coming after that, and the few times she had seen him in the halls he had said that Hibaka was giving him even more work than usual.

"Oh, that's Romario-san," he said, his tone a bit brighter than before, "you have nothing to worry about, he's a good man."

"You know him?" she asked, glancing up at him.

"Yes, he's Dino-san's right hand man. Dino-san never goes anywhere without him," he explained. "I can introduce you if you're still uncomfortable," he offered, looking down at her.

"Yeah," she nodded, the gears in her mind beginning to turn.

So, if Dino took Romario everywhere that meant that Dino was here. Why would he be here, though? Probably to visit Reborn, he had hinted that they had a semi-close relationship the last time she saw him. Besides, if the Chiavarone Famiglia had a problem with her she wouldn't have made it out of their last encounter alive.

They didn't talk about anything of real substance as they started to make their way across the courtyard. Kusakabe asked if anyone had been coming to tutoring lately, and she answered no; conveniently forgetting about earlier. Then the topic moved on to the weather and weekend plans, she didn't have much to say about these either.

"Romario-san!" he called out when they got closer to the man.

"Ah, hello there, Kusakabe-kun," he replied with a smile. "Who's your friend?"

The first thing that Reina thought was that he seemed trustworthy enough, that was probably why he held the position of Right Hand Man. The second thing was that he seemed oddly familiar.

"This is Soto Reina," Kusakabe said, gesturing to her as she tilted her head in curiosity.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" she asked, she couldn't quite place her finger on where she knew him from; it was like trying to remember a dream hours after you had woken up.

"Maybe," he said, "do you spend much time in Italy?"

"No," she shook her head, "perhaps you just have that kind of face."

"Yes, that must be it," he agreed with a knowing light in his eyes behind his glasses.

Then it hit her. She had seen him before! In that weird dream, though Reborn was trying to convince her that it was a vision of the future.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," she said quickly, "I have to get home and I'm sure you two want to catch up."

"You should walk her home, Kusakabe-kun," Romario suggested, the knowing light had morphed into a sparkle of laughter.

"What? No, it's fine," she spluttered, but it was too late.

"That's a good idea," Kusakabe agreed, "there was a police report saying that two men had been found dead yesterday; it's not safe for you to be walking around alone."

"Trust me, I'll be okay," she tried to reassure him.

It didn't work.

"No, I insist," the teen said, linking an arm through hers. "Hibari-sama would be upset if something happened to you."

She didn't have enough time to register what he said before walking her in the general direction of her home.

* * *

"Is that Soto walking with Kusakabe?" Gokudera asked, pausing in his cleaning to stare out the window in disbelief.

"Haha, what do you know? It is!" Yamamoto confirmed as he looked out the window as well. "I wonder why that is," he hummed as he pondered for a moment. "Do you think they're an item?"

"Not likely," Gokudera scoffed, "I saw her wearing Hibari's jacket earlier."

"Huh, do you think they're a couple?" the baseball star asked, now genuinely curious.

Tsuna felt the color drain from his face as he focused all his energy into sweeping up the last of the mess.

"Psh, yeah right! That guy is probably asexual based on the amount of attention he gives anyone, let alone girls!"

Tsuna somehow tripped as he reached for the dustpan, landing face-first into the neat pile of dirt he had created.

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna-kun!"

* * *

Hibari watched form the Reception Room's window with a deep frown on his face. That damn herbivore was distracting Kusakabe from his duties. Although, to be honest he didn't really have that many duties, Hibari just made him do all the things that he didn't want to.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the twinge in his gut wasn't anger but jealousy, and that turned the jealous twinge into fury.

What was is about that damn herbivore that made him feel like this? It was for the best that he didn't associate with her anymore, especially after what happened earlier. But there was something about her that drew him in when he wasn't paying attention.

"Is that Reina-chan and Kusakabe-kun?" the Bucking Horse asked, stepping up beside him to look out the window as well.

That was another thing that infuriated him, how strong herbivores like Busking Horse and the baby would refer to her with such familiar terms. Had they known her for a long time? Did she respect them enough to allow them such liberties? Or did they not respect the skills that she had displayed on multiple occasions?

"They look good together," the blonde commented in an offhand manner.

Hibari didn't notice the almost devious quality in the older male's voice, or the scheming light in his eyes. Not that it mattered – or so he told himself – he was itching for a fight against a worthy opponent and the blonde was the best choice at the moment.


	62. Fire!

Things had seemed normal enough when Reina hurriedly closed the door behind her, but upon closer inspection something seemed off. Yes, and the thing that was "off" was the faint yellowish haze that floated down through the air vents.

"Shit!" she hissed as she brought the collar of her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth.

She felt moisture bead at the corners of her eyes as the gas lived up to its name while she half stumbled, half ran through the kitchen to the side door that led to the garage. Once inside she frantically searched the wall with her free hand while her watering eyes scanned the smooth drywall for the small metal door of the fuse box. When her fingers caught on the seam of the cool metal box inset in the wall she flexed her fingers so her short nails could scratch against its surface until she found the latch to open it. Her fingers slid easily underneath the latch and she pulled so hard she almost broke it off in her frenzy to open the box.

She couldn't see much with her eyes clouded with salty tears and her shaking hands could seem to flip the stubborn switches, so she grabbed the nearest thing with any amount of heft; in this case a small wrench. She didn't think about how she would explain the damage left by the solid metal tool, her only thought was that she had to kill the power so the air conditioning would shut off and stop pumping the poisonous gas through the vents.

Sparks flew with each blow that landed against the switches, some stung at her face and hands while others simply fell against the cement floor. One ill-fated spark landed in a box of grease-soaked rags where it smoldered quietly.

There was a loud sound of things shutting down as the lights flickered off, signaling that she had succeeded in cutting the power. Now Reina stumbled blindly around in the dark until she found – see: almost fell into – a box containing at least on working flashlight, and that was all she needed. She switched the handheld light on and swept it across the room until the small circle of light landed on a door with a small square of glass so filthy that light couldn't pass through it.

She took lurching steps toward it as the world tilted beneath her, a side effect of reduced oxygen intake caused by the gas. She yanked the door open and took in a greedy breath of fresh air. The door opened to the side of the house with barely half a meter of grass between the side of the house and the privacy wall, but for Reina it was like a vast, open field. She fell to her hands and knees as she gulped down lungfuls of air between coughs that raked through her chest.

When her air flow evened out to deep, ragged breaths she slowly got back to her feet so she could stumble along the side of her house to where she knew the air conditioning unit was. She leaned heavily against the brick exterior as she assessed the metal cube. It rose to her hip and she could see that the large panel on the side had been removed recently, not all of its screws had been tightened all the way.

Reina knelt down and pulled out the small knife she had hidden beneath her skirt so she could loosen the screw all the way so she could remove the panel. It only took a few squeaking revolutions each for the screws to tumble out of the panel and onto the floor, and the metal sheet fell into Reina's waiting hands. She leaned the panel up against the wall as her eyes danced over the inner workings of the air conditioner.

There! Where the canister containing coolant used to chill the air it took in had been replaced and the air filter had been removed. She used her knife as leverage to remove the canister, turning it over in her hands once she had pried it out of its housing. Etched into its surface was a carving of a bird with its wings outstretched and trails of fire along the ends of its feathers. She frowned at the small puff of yellow that sputtered from one end and waved her hand to dispel the gas. Evidently its contents had already been pumped into the house.

Then a new haze clouded the air. A faint grey accompanied by the scent of smoke alerted her that a new problem had arisen. Fire.

Her shaking legs carried her forward, past the trashcans to the driveway and eventually to the street where she turned right, towards the Sawadas'. The small alleyway that separated them may as well have been 9 de Julio Avenue for how weak she felt, but she made it across somehow and managed to stumble up to the door where she practically collapsed.

"Eh? What're you doing here, Reina-chan?" she barely heard Nana over the pounding of blood in her ears. "Is everything alright?"

"Call the fire department, Sawada-san," the teen panted as she tried to clear the moisture from her vision. "There was an electrical short."

"Ah! Of course! Come inside," the older woman fussed as she ushered Reina into the house.

"What's going on, Mama-san?" a young woman with lavender hair asked, though Reina was less concerned with her than the suited baby that sat on her shoulder.

"There's a fire a Reina-chan's house!" the housewife gasped.

"Maybe you should call the fire department," Reina commented lightly to remind the woman before more coughs shook her shoulders.

"Right!" Nana nodded before rushing off to the kitchen.

"So, I guess Reina-chan will be staying with us for a while," Reborn smirked as he jumped off the young woman's shoulder.

"Yeah," she coughed again. "I even got you a present," she said, tossing him the canister.


End file.
